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Engadget News |
- Google doodle gets animated to honor zoopraxiscope creator
- 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012)
- Leap Wireless, T-Mobile strike deal to swap spectrum, pending FCC approval
- An early look at Ivy Bridge motherboards: or, the side order without the main
- Facebook to buy Instagram
- Windows Phone Free-Time Machine draws curious New Yorkers, one Kourtney Kardashian (video)
- Netflix for Xbox 360 updates with better contrast and episode navigation
- Contour+ vs. GoPro HD Hero 2: through the desert and into the skies
- NYC phone booths to get second lives as slate stalls
- Engadget Giveaway: win one of five V-Moda Crossfade M-80 on-ear headphones!
- Acer's C120 pico projector goes on sale, ready to be powered by your PC
- Nokia 306 manual hints at keyboard-free Asha handset
- Panasonic pimps portable power packs purportedly powering phones (and tablets)
- Mass Effect moaners kinda get their own way as people power strikes again
- Lenovo's IdeaTab S2109 unveiled on YouTube, shows off 8.9mm-thick unibody shell
- Windows Vista support isn't an eternal flame, but from tomorrow it's 'extended'
- SIM-free Nokia 808 PureView up for pre-order in Italy, expected to launch in May
- DingleBerry 4.0 cancelled, open-sourced in search of PlayBook OS 2.0 root exploit (updated: ok, maybe it's not cancelled)
- Sony to cut 10,000 jobs and slash bonuses, says Japanese newspaper
- Suzumo SushiBot pumps out 300 Kwik-E-Mart rolls per hour (video)
- Researchers suggest haptics and audio for discreet password input
- Philips' new ErgoSensor desktop display demands that you sit up straight
- How would you change ASUS' Transformer Prime?
- Inhabitat's Week in Green: autos galore, electric trees and the world's largest rooftop farm
- Refresh Roundup: week of April 2nd, 2012
- Too late for Easter: Chocolate printer to hit eBay in April, cost $4,000
- Switched On: Not weaned from Windows
- Microsoft discounts Xbox Live for Windows Phone games for Easter, offers iOS / Android prices
- Gates Foundation collaborates with Manchester University to develop potable toilet water
| Google doodle gets animated to honor zoopraxiscope creator Posted: 09 Apr 2012 11:33 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15-inch Samsung Series 9 review (2012) Posted: 09 Apr 2012 11:00 AM PDT   A year later, Samsung is back with a second-generation laptop that promises to correct all of these shortcomings, and ushers in an even thinner, even lighter design. Make that two laptops: Sammy's selling a 15-inch Ultrabook, too. And truly, there's nothing quite like it: nothing quite this thin, with this large a screen. (Consider for a moment that it measures just .08 inches thicker than the new 13-inch Series 9, which is already thinner than most other Ultrabooks on the market.) As always, though, luxury doesn't come cheap. The 15-inch Series 9 will cost $1,500 when it ships at the end of this month (the 13-inch version is available for an also-pricey $1,400, though we haven't gotten to take that model for a spin yet.) Ultimately, then, are the Series 9's elegant aluminum design and 1600 x 900 matte display enough to justify the premium you'll pay over other Ultrabooks? And does the 15-inch version offer long enough battery life to match its larger size? Let's find out. Look and feel As rough as it is being an Engadget editor, watching hot-headed readers run amok in the comments section, it must be that much more agonizing to be a product manager, the guy whose baby gets eviscerated by anonymous people on the internet who really can't stand 1366 x 768 resolution, man. If not for the sake of politeness, you fine folks in the peanut gallery might want to choose your words carefully: Samsung's product team draws some of its user feedback from the comments left here and on other tech sites. In fact, says Samsung's design team, Engadget's comment section was one of the places it turned when it set out to retool the Series 9. Based on what it found there, a couple things became clear: consumers weren't fond of the shiny plastic bits, and there wasn't much love lost for those launch buttons and port covers either. That explains what we have here: a clean, minimalist machine fashioned out of unibody aluminum (sorry, no aircraft-grade duraluminum this time). The trackpad now blends in with the rest of the palm rest. Save for a small, discreet power button above the keyboard, you won't find any hardware keys. Even the LED lights (all two of them) are tiny. All told, it's a refreshing strategy: instead of obvious tropes like brushed metal (or plastic painted to look like brushed metal), Samsung is relying almost entirely on build quality to persuade shoppers this is a luxury item. This laptop's thin shape, rock-solid build, bright display and clean design speak for themselves, and the result is not only sexy, but eminently tasteful, too.  What really makes this notebook special, though, is how absurdly thin it is. We know, we know: there's been a flood of svelte Ultrabooks announced over the past six months, and dozens more are on the way. (And yes, for the record, Samsung is calling this generation of the Series 9 Ultrabooks, just not in its marketing materials.) But even the jaded among you can't say you've seen anything quite like this: a 15-inch laptop weighing just 3.3 pounds and measuring .58 inches thick. This is far and away the skinniest 15-inch laptop we can remember seeing. To put that it context, it's almost as skinny as the 13-inch Series 9, which measures a wispy half an inch thick. It should go without saying, then, that it handily trumps all mainstream laptops, even the Dell XPS 15z, which at 5.54-pounds / .97 inches thick is otherwise thin for its class. The problem with being this lean, though, is that without any love handles there isn't room for all the ports you'd expect to find on a 15-inch laptop. You won't find an Ethernet jack, and there's no full-sized HDMI port. You will find a micro-HDMI socket and miniature VGA /LAN ports, along with an included Ethernet adapter, though that's not quite as convenient, is it? (Samsung sells an optional VGA adapter as well.) On the plus side, it comes bearing two USB 3.0 ports, along with one of the 2.0 variety. There's also a combined headphone /mic jack and a 4-in-1 memory card reader, located underneath a door hidden on the laptop's right side. Looks like Samsung's engineers also heard your complaints about the last-gen model's absent SD slot. Etc. The power brick that ships with the Series 9 is notably thin, though it's not modular the way the HP Envy 14 Spectre's is. You also won't find as many luxury goodies in the box: while it comes with that Ethernet adapter, there's no case -- something you'll get with the $1,400 Spectre and even the $1,100 ASUS Zenbook UX31. Keyboard and trackpad No one ever said a machine this thin would come without compromises. One such trade-off seems to be the keyboard, whose backlit keys are quite shallow, even for an Ultrabook. We suspect most of you will be able to do without that extra bit of tactile feedback, especially since the keys are well-spaced with a smooth, pleasant finish. The arrow buttons, too, are a bit larger than what you'll find on smaller-screened Ultrabooks, and should be easy to tap without looking away from the screen. (Ditto for the Tab and Caps Lock keys, which are inexplicably tiny, given the machine's 14-inch-wide footprint.) The real problem, though, isn't that the keys aren't cushy enough, but that they're sticky, and sometimes fail to register key presses. Ultimately, we still managed to type the brunt of this review on the Series 9, albeit with copious taps to the Backspace key. To put things in perspective for all the comparison shoppers reading this, we'd still rather use this keyboard than the lifeless one on the ASUS Zenbook UX31, but by no means is it our favorite.  As you'd expect, the top row is home to all the controls you'd expect to find there (volume, brightness, etc.), though in this case you'll need to hold down the Blue Fn key to make use of them. Among these buttons, as it happens, is a pair of controls for lowering and raising the brightness of that lovely aquamarine backlighting. But, the keyboard only glows if the computer's ambient light sensor determines you're parked in a dim enough room. And to address that follow-up question you tinkerers are about to ask, the answer is "no": you cannot force the backlighting to turn on in bright surroundings.  Once again, Samsung went with a sprawling clickpad for the Series 9, leaving plenty of room for multi-touch gestures. While we didn't get off to the smoothest of starts, Samsung released a driver update mid-way through our testing that noticeably improved the tracking precision and made pinch to zoom and two-finger scrolls easier to pull off. Still, you can expect a learning curve here. The pad (powered by Elan, this time, not Synaptics) often mistakes left clicks for right ones and vice versa -- a complaint we have about many touchpads with built-in buttons. Fortunately, at least, it has smarter palm rejection than most: you most likely won't struggle with the cursor flying to random parts of the page as you compose emails. In any case, this is the same set of trackpad drivers used on the 13-inch Series 9, so if and when we give that guy a whirl, we'll be curious to see how Sammy refines the navigation experience. Display and sound With the exception of a major jump in resolution (1600 x 900, up from 1366 x 768), this is the same 400-nit SuperBright Plus panel crowning last year's Series 9 laptop. (And yes, that pixel count applies to both the 13- and 15-inch models.) Which is to say it's bright -- brighter than pretty much everything else on the market. For indoor use, we think you can get by with a dimmer display (after all, most people do), but a screen this brilliant will come in handy if you get the urge to work on the patio, or in some nearby park. Like last year's model, too, this screen has a matte finish, which means you can say goodbye to nasty glare from overhead lights. As we found with the Series 5 Ultrabook, though, a non-glossy display isn't necessarily a shortcut to wide viewing angles. If you dip the screen forward, you'll notice it starts to wash out, and colors lose some of their potency -- a shortcoming Samsung might have averted had it chosen the kind of IPS panel used on the Spectre 14. Still, yours truly had no problem watching hours of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report from an awkward side angle (you can't always have the choice seat in the house, right?). So it's not visibility that's the issue; it's that the colors and overall image quality aren't truly at their best unless you're looking at the screen head-on.  It's a similar story with the speakers. As it happens, we'd argue the sound quality is even tinnier than average, but it fares particularly poorly compared to the Zenbook UX31, which for $400 less offers stellar Bang & Olufsen audio. And though the Spectre 14's Beats setup isn't quite as impressive, it's still an improvement over the metallic, buzzy sound you'll get on the Series 9. Two years after Intel Wireless Display debuted, it's finally become a table-stakes feature for new, reasonably high-end laptops. Like lots of other notebooks we've tested recently, the Series 9 incorporates the second generation of this technology, which allows users to wirelessly stream 1080p video to an HDTV or monitor. In addition to that, you could just mirror your entire desktop if what you're really after is a bigger canvas. As we've said before, the whole thing is easy to set up (even if you do need to drop an extra hundred bucks or so for an adapter) and the streaming is fluid -- so long as you've got a strong WiFi connection at the ready. Performance
The 15-inch Series 9 comes in a single configuration, with a 1.6GHz Core i5-2467M processor (the same you'll find in many other Ultrabooks), integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics and a 128GB solid-state drive. Similar specs as other Ultras we've tested, only this guy has twice the RAM: eight gigs. We're not sure if it's the extra memory or that Samsung-made SSD, but whatever the special ingredient is, this shapes up to be the fastest Ultrabook we've seen since the Zenbook UX31. We're referring, in part, to its five-digit PCMark Vantage score, but its real-world performance dazzles, too. Samsung claims that with its FastStart technology it should boot in less than 20 seconds; we were up and running in 14. Resume times feel near-instantaneous -- less than two seconds, according to our stopwatch. Meanwhile, in the disk benchmark ATTO we saw peak read speeds of 521 MB/s and max writes of 266 MB/s. That doesn't beat the 550 MB /s reads and 500 MB/s writes we got with the UX31, but it's the closest any Ultrabook has come to matching it. All told, that's an improvement not just over other Ultrabooks, but other 15-inch laptops as well. Even with a Core i7 processor and switchable NVIDIA graphics, the Dell XPS 15z scores 2,500 points less than the Series 9, and takes 25 seconds longer to boot up. The Series 9's Intel HD 3000 graphics notch a higher score in 3DMark06 than other Ultrabooks, but that's not saying much. In The Sims, we saw frame rates hover between 62 and 65 fps -- about what you'd get from similarly specced laptops. Likewise, Call of Duty 4 crawled along at 16 to 17 fps, as opposed to 15 fps in lower-scoring machines. If you really cared, of course, you wouldn't even be shopping for an Ultrabook (except, perhaps, this one). It would be inaccurate to say the Series 9 stays cool -- after a good hour or two of streaming video, a friend resting the laptop on his legs could feel the heat through the legs of his pants. That said, the notebook always felt more tepid than hot, and wasn't uncomfortable to touch. Battery life
Now that's more like it. After reviewing two larger-screened Ultrabooks whose extra weight didn't translate to longer battery life, we have the Series 9: a 15-inch laptop that weighs as much as a 13-inch Ultrabook, and lasts hours longer. In our standard battery rundown test, which involves looping a movie off the disk with WiFi on and the brightness fixed at 65 percent, it managed seven hours and 29 minutes. That's almost two hours more than the Toshiba Portege Z835, which is itself the most longevous 13-inch Ultrabook we've tested. Not to mention, it's a more impressive showing than what you'll get from a mainstream laptop like the XPS 15z. Even with its Optimus graphics turned off, that machine lasted just four and a half hours in the same test. It's clear that the Series 9 makes up for its larger size with longer runtime, and the best part is that its extra "heft" isn't much of an inconvenience anyway. SoftwareAll things considered, Samsung barely saddled the Series 9 with any bloatware. On board, you'll find CyberLink's YouCam software, a common webcam console, along with Skype 4.2, Windows Live Essentials 2011 and, of course, Microsoft Office Starter Edition. Norton Internet Security 2012 and Norton Online Backup round out the list. (No free Adobe Photoshop Elements / Premiere Elements, sadly. It looks like the Spectre's freebies may have spoiled us a bit.) We usually don't have much to say about pre-installed security trials (you can keep them or choose your own, we say), but it is worth noting that every time we've tested a computer running Internet Security 2012 we've run afoul of the download-scanning feature, which consistently forbids us from installing a (harmless) .exe file that older versions of Norton would have approved. Configuration options and warranty As mentioned, the 15-inch Series 9 only comes in one configuration, but this seems as good a time as any to clarify what you'll get if you opt for the $1,400 13-inch version instead. This, too, has a 128GB SSD and Core i5-2467M processor, though it packs 4GB of RAM, not eight, and has one USB 3.0 port, not two. The battery life is rated for a max of seven hours, though we haven't yet had a chance to test this claim on a final, production-grade machine. Whatever you choose, the Series 9 comes with a one-year warranty, though Samsung's offering a three-year option as well. This is fairly standard for the industry, though it's worth noting the Envy 14 Spectre costs a hundred dollars less and comes with a two-year plan. The competitionNone. As we've said, there's nothing directly comparable to the 15-inch Series 9: nothing this thin, this light, this fast with this big a screen. You could spend almost a thousand dollars less on a mainstream 15-inch laptop, but it would bring shorter battery life, slower performance and a clunkier, blander design, all of which defeats the purpose of owning an Ultrabook, if that's what you're considering buying. If you can live with a smaller display (and shorter runtime), you'll enjoy similar performance with a 13-inch Ultrabook. There are lots to choose from, of course, but we have a soft spot for the $900 HP Folio 13, which offers a great balance of speed, longevity, portability, ports, a comfortable keyboard and tasteful design. (Of course, at this price you'll be sacrificing the build quality and high-quality display that allow the Series 9 to command that higher price.) There are other promising choices, too, though you might end up making more trade-offs, whether it's a shallow keyboard, jumpy trackpad, skimpy port selection, short battery life or some combination thereof. Wrap-up More than anything, the 15-inch Series 9 makes us giddy about what laptops will look like a year from now. After all, if the original Series 9 foretold a market full of skinny Ultrabooks, might this machine be a harbinger for other larger-screened Ultrabooks with fast performance and extra long battery life? As the only such laptop around right now, the Series 9 is impressive in its own right, though not quite the magic bullet we thought it would be. On the one hand, it's elegant and well-made with exceptional horsepower and robust battery life. On the other, its so-so keyboard and trackpad don't match the premium experience Samsung is trying to sell, and it's missing other top-shelf features like higher-end speakers and an IPS display with wider viewing angles. For $1,500, we'd expect all these things, though if eventually Samsung cuts the price (as it did with the original Series 9), these shortcomings might sting less. These imperfections aside, though, it's a solid laptop that keeps most of it promises as a luxury machine. If you need a new laptop now and can't bear to step down to a smaller, lower-res display, carpe diem! Just keep in mind that there's room for other Ultrabook-makers to do even better. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leap Wireless, T-Mobile strike deal to swap spectrum, pending FCC approval Posted: 09 Apr 2012 10:41 AM PDT  Earlier today, Cricket's parent company Leap Wireless announced a deal that'd see its own Savary Island Wireless, T-Mobile and Cook Intlet/VS GSM VII GPS (itself a T-Mo venture) swap spectrum in a handful of markets. The agreement lets Leap Wireless inherit 10MHz of AWS waves in Phoenix, Houston, Galveston, and Brian-College Station, TX, while the Magenta carrier -- in partnership with Cook Intlet -- would receive spectrum in various markets within Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Leap's CEO Doug Hutcheson says the move's bound to help "provide us a longer term flexibility to offer a larger LTE channel." Of course, the pact still needs the OK from the FCC, thus the champagne bottles must remain on standby until then. Leap, Savary Island and T-Mobile Agree to Exchange Spectrum Transaction Provides Leap with Additional Spectrum in Phoenix and Houston SAN DIEGO, April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP), a leading provider of innovative and value-driven wireless communications services, announced today that it has entered into definitive license exchange agreements with T-Mobile USA (T-Mobile), Cook Inlet/VS GSM VII PCS LLC, a joint venture between T-Mobile and Cook Inlet in which T-Mobile has a non-controlling majority interest (Cook Inlet), and Leap's non-controlled, majority-owned venture Savary Island Wireless, LLC (Savary Island) to exchange wireless spectrum in various markets. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101220/MM20546LOGO-a) The transaction would result in Leap acquiring 10 MHz of additional AWS spectrum in Phoenix, AZ and Houston, Galveston and Bryan-College Station, TX to supplement the spectrum Leap currently operates in those markets, among others. Leap and Savary Island have agreed to assign T-Mobile and Cook Inlet spectrum in various markets in Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The transactions also include intra-market exchanges between Leap, T-Mobile and Cook Inlet, in Philadelphia, Wilmington, Atlantic City and various markets in Texas and New Mexico, and between Leap and Cook Inlet in certain markets in Texas. Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. "These transactions will enhance our spectrum depth in these markets and provide us longer term flexibility to offer a larger LTE channel. As we have previously announced, we plan to cover approximately two-thirds of our current network footprint with LTE technology over the next two to three years," said Doug Hutcheson, Leap's president and chief executive officer. "In addition the transactions will allow us to re-align spectrum in key markets into contiguous channels thereby optimizing our delivery of wireless services." Financial details were not disclosed. About Leap Leap provides innovative, high-value wireless services to a young and ethnically diverse customer base. With the value of unlimited wireless services as the foundation of its business, Leap pioneered its Cricket service. Cricket products and services are available nationwide through company-owned stores, dealers, national retailers and at MyCricket.com. Through its affordable, flat-rate service plans, Cricket offers customers a choice of unlimited voice, text, data and mobile Web services. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Leap is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "LEAP." For more information, please visit www.leapwireless.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements reflect management's current expectations based on currently available operating, financial and competitive information, but are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements include discussions regarding the timing of the closing of the spectrum transactions with T-Mobile and the other parties and our plans to launch LTE network technology, and are generally identified with words such as "will," "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "intend," "plan," "could," "may" and similar expressions. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could affect our forward-looking statements include, among other things, the grant and timing of regulatory approvals and the satisfaction or waiver of other closing conditions. More information about these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could affect our forward-looking statements can be found in section entitled "Risk Factors" included in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, filed with the SEC on February 21, 2012. All forward-looking statements included in this news release should be considered in the context of these risks. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investors and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An early look at Ivy Bridge motherboards: or, the side order without the main Posted: 09 Apr 2012 10:22 AM PDT  As we'd expect, the consensus is that these boards perform similarly to Z68 Express, such that there's no point upgrading if you're intending to hold onto your current processor. HotHardware couldn't even find anything significant to differentiate between the different boards on offer -- they all have built-in USB 3.0 support, are Thunderbolt ready (with an added controller) and deliver other features in line with their price points, which range from to $189 to $279. ExtremeTech, meanwhile, only looked at the in-house Intel board -- the DZ77GA-70K -- and found it to be "unready for prime time" due to some "clearly unfinished" BIOS issues. Tom's Hardware noted that USB 3.0 integration and improved Lucidlogix Virtu GPU switching are the two biggest reasons to upgrade, and suggested that new system builders would have "nothing to lose and a few small things to gain" by opting for Z77 at this stage. The Tech Report also praised the performance of Intel's SuperSpeed USB controller, saying it beat auxiliary controllers. That site also made a valid point: while the early launch of this chipset might seem anti-climactic, at least it's better than the other way round -- imagine buying an Ivy Bridge processor before tailored motherboards became available. Unconscionable! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 09 Apr 2012 10:05 AM PDT  How's this for some big news on an otherwise slow Monday? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has let slip that his company plans to buy popular photo-sharing app Instagram (pending all of the standard regulatory approvals, naturally). According to a report from All Things D's Kara Swisher, Facebook will pick up the social app, which got its own long-awaited Android version, for a cool $1 billion in cash and shares. Ole Zuck confirmed the news on his personal blog, adding that the deal won't affect Instagram's integration with competing social networks:
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed via his site's blog that the service, "is not going away," adding, "The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love." Check out some PR on the subject after the break.
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| Windows Phone Free-Time Machine draws curious New Yorkers, one Kourtney Kardashian (video) Posted: 09 Apr 2012 09:42 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netflix for Xbox 360 updates with better contrast and episode navigation Posted: 09 Apr 2012 09:34 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contour+ vs. GoPro HD Hero 2: through the desert and into the skies Posted: 09 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT  Engadget Show segments come about in any number of ways. Sometimes it's a no brainer, with some awesome new gadget just aching for some air time. Other times it's a matter of our wanting to do something cool, like, say, flying a plane. The GoPro / Contour segment from the last Engadget Show was a little bit of both. The ultra-rugged camcorders were a perfect fit for our desire to take on some extreme activities in the Nevada desert. We started out by taking Polaris RZR for a spin on some sand dunes around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And while we didn't really anticipate that it would be windy enough that day to ground planes at nearby McCarren Airport, the 50MPH sandstorms certainly did their part in testing the mettle of the devices -- and our camera crew, for that matter. We strapped both to the roll bar of the all-terrain vehicle and took off into the desert. Things were thankfully a bit calmer when we took to the sky the following day with help from the folks at Sky Combat Ace. The camcorders joined us in our respective cockpits, proving that they could take the punishment of a several G ride -- even if we didn't hold up so well. So, which of the two camcorders fared better? Tim and Brian hash it out after the break. Brian: Let's start with the good. We put both of those cameras through hell, and both survived. Tim: Yes, and more importantly the two of us survived, though I think I'm even less dust-proof than the Contour+ proved to be. Shall we describe our candidates? I spent most of my time wearing the Contour+, which is the latest camera from the company. It's a 1080p model that follows the same design as the Contour GPS and ContourHD before it, with a rotating barrel that makes it easy to mount in just about any position and a streamlined shape. Brian: I had the big, square HD Hero2 -- I assume these were meant to be extensions of our personalities. Mine also does 1080p (hence the name), but if you want to keep it out of harm's (ie sand's) way, you're going to want to stick it that little plastic aquarium of a case. Tim: Yeah, in fact you need to always have that polycarbonate case on the thing if you want to use any of the mounts the camera offers, which adds a lot of bulk. It's pretty fragile and flimsy on its own, but inside that case it's almost bulletproof. I know of one that was run over by a tank and survived. Brian: And it didn't end up as crunchy as yours. We're still having some trouble flipping the switch on the Contour. Tim: Yes, it's less durable out of the box for sure, but you can get a waterproof case for it for those times when you really need to dive into a mud pit head-first. Brian: An important point for all of the amateur wrestlers out there. I think the main thing here, aside from sheer aesthetics, though, is the fact that the oblong Contour is just much less conspicuous when wearing it on your person. The Contour is also a good deal more aerodynamic.  Tim: I've actually used both of them on my helmet when riding my motorcycle. At high-speeds you can absolutely feel the difference between the two. Plus, with a GoPro stuck up on top of my helmet I always feel about 10 times more conspicuous. This is also true when snowboarding. The goggle strap mount from Contour is very discrete. And it's also a lot easier to use with gloves on, thanks to the big slider on top. Brian: It's not all about looks though. For one thing, the HD Hero2 is a fair bit cheaper. The bundle (there are three different basic configurations) will run you $299, including the camera, various mounting options and the aforementioned transparent case. Tim: It is significantly cheaper, and we found image quality to be slightly higher. The actual resolution is the same, but the color balance was far more accurate in the GoPro than on the Contour+. Brian: The color balance issue really came into play in the desert. The GoPro's default balance was just far more natural. The Contour gave the sand an artificial blue hue. I expected a sand worm to leap out at any moment. Tim: To be fair, you can manually tweak the color balance on the Contour+, but that requires a bit of fiddling. That's made easy, though, thanks to the use of Bluetooth connectivity to a smartphone. Using either Android or iOS apps you can tether the camera to your phone and use it as a live viewfinder. This way you can always make sure the camera is pointed in exactly the right direction and also made on-the-fly tweaks to exposure settings. Plus, it has a GPS module, so it'll track exactly where you were and how fast you were going when you had that epic yard sale on the bunny slope.  Brian: A point for the GoPro: you can do a full screen at 1080p. Tim: Yes, the GoPro maintains its 170 degree good looks even at full resolution. The Contour+ does 170 degrees as well, but sadly only at 720p or lower. If you step up to the full monty 1080p you drop to 125 degrees. That gives you a lot less perspective, but a lot less distortion too, to be honest. Brian: Well, if you're curious about what you're going to get with the GoPro, you can always opt for the LCD BacPac. $80 more will get you an attachable screen for previewing what you're shooting. And yes, it'll fit in that ever important plastic casing. Tim: Well, only because it comes with a bigger plastic case that's compatible. It does make it a handy way to review your footage in the field, though, if you don't want to swap out SD cards all the time. Brian: Especially in a 60MPH sandstorm. Speaking of add-ons, the Wi-Fi BacPac lets you control the thing wirelessly, in case you want to, you know, attach it to the wing of a plane. Tim: Which we did! That I think was my favorite shot from the entire segment, the wing cam. And I suppose we should mention that we filmed a lot of the footage in that segment on the original GoPro HD Heroes, which doesn't necessarily speak to their greater quality, but at least speaks to which is more popular on the film production scene. Brian: It certainly speaks to the power of those suction cup mounts. We didn't drop any cameras on anyone's heads. Tim: For those wondering we used Panavise suction mounts, the single-cup units no less. You can pick 'em up for about $25 and stick 'em on just about anything. Anything that's smooth and roughly flat, anyway. Brian: Even your dog? That's the next great adventure for the GoPro, right? Tim: Hmm... I'm thinking the helmet strap mount affixed to a doggie backpack would probably be more effective there. I'll do some research and report back. Brian: I don't know about you, but I don't think there's a clear winner here today -- just two ultra rugged cameras that do their jobs fairly well.  Tim: Well the winner is the consumer who partakes in antics that are extreme enough for them to want to share but not so extreme that they wouldn't want them captured on film. The quality and performance of both really blew me away. But, for sure, the Contour+ is the preferred model for a helmet mount. It's just far more discrete and flexible. Brian: And the GoPro will save you some cash and will arguably stand up to a bit more than the better looking Contour. Tim: This is true, but if cost is a concern there is the ContourROAM. It's waterproof, still 1080p, loses the Bluetooth and GPS but only costs about $200. Brian: I guess we're going to have to go out and test that one next month, huh? Tim: Bungee jumping? Paragliding? Brian: A leisurely nap in the park? Lots of options on the table. Tim: I can't wait... but I think I'll up my life insurance first. Just in case. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NYC phone booths to get second lives as slate stalls Posted: 09 Apr 2012 08:29 AM PDT  Believe it or not, but there are still hundreds, nay, thousands of phone booths out there on the streets of New York City. Obviously, in the age of the ubiquitous smartphone, most of them go untouched -- though, usually that has more to do with some mysterious substance covering the handset. The city is preparing to update this urban staple by replacing the touch tone quarter eaters with 32-inch touchscreens. The giant slates will offer a quick connection to 311 for requesting info and filing complaints, as well as interactive guides to the neighborhood. Instead of being a place to prank call 1-800 numbers, the phone booth will now become your one stop shop for restaurant suggestions and local landmark locations. 250 of the devices are being provided free of charge by City24x7 for a pilot program and, if all goes well, the company and the city will split revenue generate from ad sales following an expanded roll out. You can bet we'll be some of the first people on the street to put these through their paces when they make their expected debut in May.[Payphone image via Shutterstock] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engadget Giveaway: win one of five V-Moda Crossfade M-80 on-ear headphones! Posted: 09 Apr 2012 08:01 AM PDT  Are your grandmother's decade-old earbuds just not cutting it any more? Time to get a pair of your own. V-Moda's got five pairs of its latest on-ear headphones, the Crossfade M-80, to give out to our dear readership. Each of them normally would run you $230, so this opportunity is a pretty sweet alternative to having to shell out a benjamin or three just to get some solid sound pumping into those fragile eardrums of yours. You know the drill: head below, read the rules and leave a comment to win! The rules:
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| Acer's C120 pico projector goes on sale, ready to be powered by your PC Posted: 09 Apr 2012 07:29 AM PDT  Unless you had a particularly keen eye for tiny projectors, you may well have missed the announcement of Acer's C120, back at CES. The palm-sized pico projector has now hit the market, weighing in at an ultraportable 6.34 ounces. The peripheral features a USB connection, which can be used to power the device when it's plugged into a PC. The C120's also got a quick-starting LED lamp, which can display presentations in WVGA or WXGA. Business people, teachers and lovers of tiny projectors alike can pick this guy up now for $259. Not sold? Watch a projection-worthy video presentation from CES, after the break.
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| Nokia 306 manual hints at keyboard-free Asha handset Posted: 09 Apr 2012 06:57 AM PDT  The team at Unwired View has bagged a PDF that purports to be the user manual for Nokia's 306, the first full-touch member of the keyboard-loving Asha family. None of the images in the document (we've collated a handful above) show a handset with a hardware keyboard, but it's not clear if it's running S40 either. The images show that the device can support multiple home screens, an Android-style notifications bar and pinch-to-zoom, but this could either be evidence of the S40 re-skin (codenamed "Sonic") or, fancifully, the first appearance of Espoo's Linux-based Meltemi OS for low-end phones. The big question now is, will Nokia confirm its existence (perhaps at its Asian conference in June?), or will the secretary deny all knowledge? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Panasonic pimps portable power packs purportedly powering phones (and tablets) Posted: 09 Apr 2012 06:24 AM PDT  Panasonic isn't letting any chocolate egg hangover delay its plans for global smartphone domination. It's releasing eight new external battery packs that'll power your smartphone and / or tablet. The biggest model in the series, the QE-QL301 packs a 10,260 mAh battery that claims to charge a handset four times over, or juice two at the same time (twice). The range also includes three wireless charging plates powered by Energizer's QI platform and, just to show that Panny's thought of everything: the dual-USB ports on some of the models come with a little LED light so you can even find them during night-time power-cuts. Panasonic to Launch High-Capacity USB Mobile Power Supplies Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation today announced it will launch a new series of portable USB Mobile Power Supplies as auxiliary power sources for mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs, on May 28, 2012, for the Japanese market. The highest-capacity model in the series, QE-QL301, can provide enough power to fully charge a smartphone four times*1*2 on a single charge, twice the capacity of the company's current model*3. With the advancement and rapid popularization of mobile devices, there has been a growing concern over battery life among users. Given this situation, the market for auxiliary power supplies is expanding, and there is a particular interest in rechargeable power supplies, which are economical and cause less environmental impact as they can be used repeatedly. The new series of Panasonic USB Mobile Power Supplies consists of eight models ranging from lightweight portable models to high capacity models, enabling users to continually use their mobile devices on the go without having to worry about running out of power. The high-end QE-QL301 offers a minimum capacity of 10,260 mAh and has two USB ports allowing it to charge two devices, such as a tablet PC and a smartphone, simultaneously*4. The new lineup also includes three contactless models*5 that can be charged wirelessly using Qi technology*6, the global standard for wireless charging. As they can be also charged via USB port or AC outlet*7, they offer flexibility in charging. With this new series, Panasonic will offer innovative ways to charge a variety of mobile devices. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mass Effect moaners kinda get their own way as people power strikes again Posted: 09 Apr 2012 05:49 AM PDT  SPOILERS. Who can't name a beloved TV series that didn't end the way you wanted? BSG? Lost? Sapphire and Steel? Blake's Seven? Quantum Leap? The Sopranos? All of which ended either with tear-inducing bum-notes or confusing conclusions that caused furious head scratching. Despite that, the traditional reaction is to say "Well, I didn't enjoy that, but I respect the writer's artistic decision." Not so for gamers who felt short-changed by the intentionally devastating conclusion to Mass Effect 3. Fans of the game poured their outrage online, developer BioWare saying that the feedback it had received was "incredibly painful." A fan campaign that raised $80,000 in under a fortnight for Child's Play was enough to make the team behind the title concede defeat against the geo-political disruptor that is the internet with a cause. The company is now devoting all of its efforts to producing an "extended cut" DLC for the summer, but fans expecting a fourth ending where they can watch Commander Shepard on a sun-lounger, margarita in hand had better start complaining now -- the new content will only offer more depth and an extended epilogue to those tragic scenes you've already witnessed. SPOILERS END BioWare Announces Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut Free* DLC Pack to Provide Additional Cinematic Scenes to the Ending of Mass Effect 3 this Summer REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BioWare, a Label of Electronic Arts Inc. announced Mass Effect™ 3: Extended Cut, a downloadable content pack that will expand upon the events at the end of the critically acclaimed Action RPG. Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will give fans seeking further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3 deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes. Coming this summer, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will be available for download on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC for no extra charge*. "We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA's BioWare Label. "Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe." Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series added, "We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player." The Mass Effect franchise is one of the most highly decorated series in the history of games, having earned over 250 awards from critics around the world. Mass Effect 3 launched last month to universal critical acclaim, receiving over 75 perfect scores. For more information on Mass Effect 3, please visit http://masseffect.com, follow the game on Twitter at http://twitter.com/masseffect or "like" the game on Facebook at http://facebook.com/masseffect. Press assets for Mass Effect 3 are available at www.info.ea.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lenovo's IdeaTab S2109 unveiled on YouTube, shows off 8.9mm-thick unibody shell Posted: 09 Apr 2012 05:14 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Windows Vista support isn't an eternal flame, but from tomorrow it's 'extended' Posted: 09 Apr 2012 05:03 AM PDT  Remember how we told you that Windows Vista was getting extended support? Well here's a little PSA: that new phase begins tomorrow, and it's slightly different to what Redmond calls 'mainstream' support. You'll still get security updates until April 2017, but according to Microsoft's general support policy you'll lose certain other benefits. Key among those are warranty claims and no-charge incident support. So, after the party is the after-party -- at least until you're ready for an upgrade party. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SIM-free Nokia 808 PureView up for pre-order in Italy, expected to launch in May Posted: 09 Apr 2012 04:02 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 09 Apr 2012 03:17 AM PDT  [Thanks, Joao] Update: DingleBerry dev Chris Wade reached out to us to clarify that version 4.0 is not cancelled -- regardless of what the official changelog says. Where exactly the confusion comes from we're not entirely sure, but we've been told the project was open sourced so that others, perhaps those with more free time on their hands, could take a crack at the PlayBook OS and not because it's dead. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sony to cut 10,000 jobs and slash bonuses, says Japanese newspaper Posted: 09 Apr 2012 01:10 AM PDT  There have been some major adjustments at Sony HQ already, but Japanese business sheet Nikkei reckons they're nothing compared to what's on the horizon. It reports that, come an announcement on April 12th, Kaz Hirai will reveal plans to clear out 10,000 jobs by the end of this year -- that's six percent of his workforce. The paper also says that seven execs, including chairman Howard Stringer, could be asked to forgo their bonuses, as the company concedes a $3.2 billion loss for 2011. It's a just a single report and it's entirely possible that none of this will happen, but merely the hint of such austerity could perhaps serve Hirai's interests, even if he ends up being less drastic when Thursday comes around. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Suzumo SushiBot pumps out 300 Kwik-E-Mart rolls per hour (video) Posted: 09 Apr 2012 01:03 AM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Researchers suggest haptics and audio for discreet password input Posted: 08 Apr 2012 11:06 PM PDT  [Thanks, An] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Philips' new ErgoSensor desktop display demands that you sit up straight Posted: 08 Apr 2012 08:44 PM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How would you change ASUS' Transformer Prime? Posted: 08 Apr 2012 07:39 PM PDT  "All hail the new king," was how we capped off our review of the Transformer Prime, which simply blew us away. Gaming performance was astonishing and it only improved when Ice Cream Sandwich appeared in the middle of this year's CES. In fact, the only issues we could find involved a less-than-ideal speaker placement, slightly flat color reproduction and the fact that the keyboard dock and battery is an additional $150. The company's even getting around fixing the GPS issue with the soon-to-be-released dongle attachment. But then we wanna hear your opinions about how this thing behaves in the real world: what are your feelings using this thing on a daily basis? Can you use it instead of a laptop or Ultrabook? What do you love, what do you hate and, if Asus' was watching, how would you change it? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inhabitat's Week in Green: autos galore, electric trees and the world's largest rooftop farm Posted: 08 Apr 2012 05:34 PM PDT Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.  Even though we kicked the week off with some pretty plausible April Fool's Day stories, some of the actual events from the past few days proved that truth is often stranger than fiction. Case in point: this Indian man single-handedly planted a 1,360 acre forest (really makes you question what you've accomplished in your life, doesn't it?) and a spooky unmanned Japanese ghost ship was recently spotted off the coast of Canada floating aimlessly in the sea. In other news, Harry the Hermit crab was picky about his abodes until he was presented with a custom-made LEGO shell, and the electric blue trees that sprouted up in Seattle weren't stragglers from a Dr. Seuss book, but rather the work of an artist calling attention to the dangers of deforestation. On the other hand, some reforestation is about to take place in NYC, as Marty Markowitz and celebrity chef Mario Batali announced that the world's largest rooftop farm will be coming to Brooklyn in 2013. And finally, it seems the media made April Fools of themselves last week when they jumped to the false conclusion that taxpayer money was lost after Solar Trust of America filed for bankruptcy. The world of design presented us with some inspiring new developments this week as we delved deep into tiny terrarium worlds, ogled IKEA's otherworldly new jellyfish lamp and witnessed an eco Easter egg sprout mini skyscrapers just in time for the holiday. More strides were also made in the race for cleaner energy as this young savant at the University of Delaware developed a self-sustaining solar reactor that could revolutionize clean energy as we know it and Bayer revealed a new seismic wallpaper that could actually keep walls from collapsing in an earthquake. Not to be outdone, scientists from Austria and Japan announced that they created micro-thin solar cells narrower than spider silk and Chinese researchers unlocked the secret of butterfly wings to make solar electricity more efficient. And, of course, no tech recap would be complete without an innovation from Google - the search giant just unveiled its new pair of "Project Glass" augmented reality glasses. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Refresh Roundup: week of April 2nd, 2012 Posted: 08 Apr 2012 04:49 PM PDT  Official Android updates
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| Too late for Easter: Chocolate printer to hit eBay in April, cost $4,000 Posted: 08 Apr 2012 04:18 PM PDT Confection connoisseurs hoping to skip the whole "molded chocolate" routine for something more constructive won't have to wait long: Choc Edge's delectable 3D dessert printer is almost ready. The Choc Creator is the brainchild of Liang Hao and a kitchen of assistant cooks -- additional research at the University of Brunel, software by developer Delcam, oversight from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and funding from the Research Councils UK's Digital Economy program. Hao founded Choc Edge to distribute the completed machines, the first of which will be available from eBay on April 10th. Of course, pre-orders are also available for £2,488, or just under $4,000. Yes, the price of printing your own sweets is steep, but when you take that first bite into your custom Engadget logo -- won't it be worth it? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Switched On: Not weaned from Windows Posted: 08 Apr 2012 02:30 PM PDT Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.  This recent announcement that Dell would not be pursuing new smartphones for the time being following the retirement of its Venue Windows Phone devices raised the spotlight on PC companies -- at least those other than Apple -- and why they have struggled so mightily in the US smartphone market. Virtually every major PC company, including HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba and ASUS, has either passed completely on entering the domestic market or released only a handful of models without much carrier support behind them. HP, of course, made the largest investment in mobile with the purchase of an ailing developer of devices and operating systems. But even before that Palm slapped its forehead, HP had only casually flirted with smartphones, releasing a few token Windows Mobile smartphones.
To be fair to these companies, the investment demands of the ultra-competitive smartphone market have proven formidable for many companies, including many, like Motorola, Nokia and RIM, that were once considered masters of the game. Even companies that have not seen such a prolonged decline, like HTC, can find the tables turned on them in the course of a financial quarter. But PC companies have been fighting the battle with some heavy handicaps. The ChannelPCs are sold through many channels; two of the most important are big-box retailers, direct sales, and VARs. These channels are much less of a force in the smartphone market, where most of the distribution is through carrier stores and their agents. The flip side of this is that smartphone companies haven't done well in the tablet market in part because those products have been distributed through more PC-focused channels. PC makers are used to listening to the demands of enterprise customers and consumers in aggregate, but that's a far cry from customizing product for the demands of carriers. The ChipsThe PC chip market is essentially a duopoly of Intel and AMD, which limits PC OEM choice. In contrast, the smartphone market has a broader range of ARM licensees. Not only is there NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to name three leaders, but a few major smartphone providers such as Apple and Samsung use their own ARM customizations. Such competition helps to create lower prices, but it also means more tradeoffs from which to choose and more optimizations to really take the best advantage of particular architecture. The ChopsWhile fast compared to the consumer electronics sector, the PC market has longer product development times than the fiercely competitive smartphone market. And while being freed from Microsoft's dictatorial terms might have PC makers celebrating, the old cliché of freedom not being free applies. Google offers less support -- technologically and financially -- to most hardware developers than Microsoft offers to giant customers such as HP and Dell. Of course, one alternative is to build or acquire an alternative operating system. The former option, though, is extremely expensive and risky. And the latter didn't pan out well for HP. More InfoWill the fortunes ever change for PC makers in the smartphone market? While Windows Phone may not be the same thing as Windows, Microsoft would be all too eager to see HP and Dell become high-volume shippers of these devices. As Windows 8 bears more in common with the Windows Phone user interface and creates other ties, PC makers gain more of an advantage than they've had in the past. Microsoft may need the likes of Nokia and Samsung to get the bandwagon rolling for Windows Phone, but it's the easiest one for PC makers to hop aboard if it can get rolling. Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) is executive director and principal analyst of the NPD Connected Intelligence service at The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Microsoft discounts Xbox Live for Windows Phone games for Easter, offers iOS / Android prices Posted: 08 Apr 2012 01:15 PM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gates Foundation collaborates with Manchester University to develop potable toilet water Posted: 08 Apr 2012 12:07 PM PDT  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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