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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

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Netflix for Windows Phone hits v2.0, heads to the UK, Ireland and Latin America

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 11:01 AM PDT

Via its blog site, Netflix announced that version 2.0 of its Windows Phone app is now ready for your downloading pleasure. The refresh hands the application a passport to head over to the United Kingdom, Ireland as well as 47 other countries in Latin America. In addition to its global quest, Netflix added an array of new bits in the update, including subtitles, closed captions and an alternate audio option, while performance improvements and the promise of a more pleasant browsing / viewing experience are also in tow. Naturally, you'll need a Mango-flavored Windows handset to enjoy the app; if that's you, the source link has something you clearly need.

LG Viper 4G may hit Sprint stores on April 22nd

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 10:40 AM PDT

Pre-orders of Sprint's first LTE-capable device, the LG Viper 4G, begin tomorrow. The Now Network is keeping quiet on an official release date for the time being, but that isn't stopping the carrier from sharing a few crucial nuggets of information with its employees first. We got our hands on a screenshot apparently informing Sprint's forces that the device will be all yours for the buying on April 22nd, through your choice of retail sales channels and online stores. No new details are revealed otherwise, and we still don't know exactly when the LTE service itself will go live, but we're definitely seeing a light at the end of this tunnel.

[Thanks, anonymous]

Toshiba AT300 gets Excited at the FCC

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 10:25 AM PDT

As we rub our eyes and squint at the sliver of a label on the FCC report, we can clearly see it reads Toshiba AT300. This, as you may recall, was the model number worn by the Japan-only 10.1 inch Regza tab. But wait! We can also read "Excite 10 AT300" and "Excite 10 305" on the same report, suggesting this is actually one of the new trio of Excites revealed just yesterday. Makes sense, seeing as the new 10-incher needs to have all its paperwork sorted by May 6th.

Japanese biometric ATM reads your palm, tells fortune

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 09:52 AM PDT

A palm reading cash machine might not tell you your fortune, but it will, at least, dispense some of it. Ogaki Kyoritsu Bank in Japan has revealed that it will introduce the nation's first ATM that lets you withdraw money just by scanning your palm. This isn't the first ATM to use extra human verification, but it claims it's the first that functions without the need for your cash card. Customers will need to pop in to a branch to provide some manual verification -- and of course a palm scan -- then you're away. The bank hopes this will help people access their cash in the event of losing your card, or a natural disaster. Great until you upgrade to one of these.

The Engadget Show is nominated for a Webby Award!

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 09:20 AM PDT

The Engadget Interview: ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg on Exede and the future of in-flight WiFi

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 09:00 AM PDT

When you think about satellite internet, dismal speeds, ridiculous latency and astronomical fees are likely first to come to mind. But the only technology capable of blanketing our entire planet in connectivity is now able to provide a fast, consistent and affordable experience, thanks to one market-leading company, and the vision and leadership of Mark Dankberg. Launched from Dankberg's home in Southern California, ViaSat lit up on the map in 1986, and spent the first two decades focused on government and corporate contracts. Last year's launch of ViaSat-1, however, beamed the company straight toward the top of the North American satellite broadband market, bringing high-speed internet to the rural masses. Pair the company's Exede household product with airline contracts for in-flight WiFi, and you have one ever-growing infrastructure giant. We sat down with Dankberg -- ViaSat's CEO since inception -- at the company's Carlsbad, California headquarters, learning about the Exede service launch, a portable newsgathering rig and what the future of in-flight WiFi may look like on airlines like JetBlue and United. Join us past the break for the interview in full, and an inside look at how ViaSat plans to transform the entire satellite internet experience.

Was the Exede launch successful? How many subscribers have joined on at this point?

We feel like it's been successful, and the initial reaction has been very good, in two ways. We wanted to show that satellite could be a better choice than slower terrestrial alternatives. We wanted to see what would happen if we gave people high speeds and had enough bandwidth to stand behind it, and so far the initial reaction has been really, really good. People have been really pleasantly surprised about how fast it is. Not only did we do an introduction at CES, we've also gotten really positive feedback from a lot of our initial subscribers.

If you're not an Xbox Live gaming aficionado, if that's not really important to you, we think that this ought to be a really good service.

There's one school of thought that says satellite is only for people who have no choice and it doesn't matter how good it is. It's possible that that will be the case, but what we'd like to do is show that it could be a better choice for people. If you're not an Xbox Live gaming aficionado, if that's not really important to you, we think that this ought to be a really good service and I think that covers a lot of people. In terms of actual subscriber acquisition rates, we haven't released a lot of data yet. We did say in mid-February, before we had lit up the whole coverage area, that we were averaging a little over 800 new orders a day -- and you'd expect that to have increased since then. But we're still in a start-up mode. Mostly, you have to normalize things to: how many regions we're covering, how many dealers are available to do installs and how many installs they've done so it's tricky to interpret the numbers but we're really happy with them.

Does Exede represent a change in direction for ViaSat?

Yes. Four years ago, we started the ViaSat-1 satellite project, and up until that time our business was selling technology and products. What that really marked was a switch to selling services, and we felt that selling services was going to be more important. People generally buy the service, they don't buy just the technology, and so we never really felt like we could frame it the way we wanted or deliver it in the form we wanted. Now we had the ability to do that. It was really capital-intensive -- it was a half-billion dollar project, so it meant a big investment for the company -- but on the other hand, we felt really strongly about it, we didn't see other people doing it, we felt there was a void in the market, a vacuum in the market, and we wanted to fill it. So, yeah, it's been a big change. Internally, there's a mind shift that goes with doing that transition from technology to services and I think we're making that.

JetBlue and United have both signed on to offer in-flight WiFi. Will other airlines be joining as well? How many aircraft do you plan to have online in 2012 and in 2013?

I think that the first airplanes will go in service in the fall, so by the end of this year I'm going to guess there will be about ten or so. I think that by the end of next year there will be a lot more -- I think it's around 18 months to two years to deploy -- about 300 aircraft. I believe in terms of other aircraft signing on and how it gets used, the market will go through phases. Going back to when we were working on broadband back in 2000, the first question was "Does anyone want broadband at all?" With cable modems coming out, who was going to buy cable modems? Why spend $50 a month for something when you could spend 20 on dial-up? Today, believe it or not, a lot of the airlines are still in the stage where they're not totally sure that people really want in-flight WiFi.

I think the thing that made air-to-ground WiFi service successful in capturing airlines was that it was relatively inexpensive to install on an airplane. What it did was establish that there's demand. Now I believe the next phase is that airlines are starting to realize, well, not only do you want WiFi, but it's got to be good. Then the question is, what does good mean? Believe it or not, a lot of people don't really get that good means a lot of bandwidth for a lot of users. So that's not really the criteria that a lot of the airlines are using when they choose a WiFi technology. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes two, three, four, five years for all that to get sorted out. When it does, I think that people will like the satellite connections because it's a very cost effective way to deliver broadband to aircraft.

What's your business model and how is it different from Gogo? Do you cover the installation cost or is that shared with the airline?

So, from a business model perspective, it's a bit funny, because we're not totally sure what the business model is yet. Our model to start with is that airlines will probably buy the equipment to put on the aircraft and then they'll buy satellite airtime. JetBlue has in-flight DirectTV by LiveTV and the part of United that we'll be on used to be the Continental Airlines airplanes that also had LiveTV. The LiveTV guys would talk about a catch phrase "Coke and a bag of peanuts" -- meaning if they had a service that was inexpensive, they could consider giving it away to passengers. So the idea would be if the cost of broadband, at least for some applications, was sort of bounded, then maybe they could give it away for free, but they don't know for sure yet.

I think that the business model is still to be determined and will probably be shaped by each individual airline, and what we'll do is we'll be sort of behind the scenes fulfilling the bandwidth part of it and then we're going to think about other ways we might package our bandwidth. A lot's gonna depend on what the airlines perception of what the passengers think, because they don't know yet. Basically I think that the airlines will end up gravitating towards things that influence passengers' selections of flights -- that's really what's going to have the impact. What we suspect is that connectivity is actually a pretty big feature and that people will be able to tell the difference between pretty good and really good connectivity. So that's what we're aiming for and basically we feel like things that we do to improve the connectivity value proposition are very similar to what we do for home broadband, which is drive down the cost of bandwidth, yet deliver higher speeds.

Does Gogo have a competing product in the works? Do you see a place for them in this space as well?

Currently Aircell has the old Verizon AirFone frequencies. It's about 4MHz of spectrum, and I think they built out several dozen towers in the US that use that spectrum and point upwards, basically. In round numbers I think they've spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the infrastructure, and they have gigabits of bandwidth. We spent hundreds of millions of dollars and we have over a hundred gigabits of bandwidth. So I think that when you get to an environment where what matters is the cost of bandwidth, I think satellite should compete really, really well. I think that the big attraction of Aircell at the beginning was that because it was an air-to-ground system, you needed a relatively simple antenna, the installation was relatively inexpensive, and so you could offer WiFi with a smaller investment. So now I think the challenge for them will be to drive their bandwidth costs down substantially and it's not so clear how you can do that with ground-to-air spectrum, whether or not there's enough spectrum available to do that.

Are there other segments of the in-flight entertainment space that ViaSat hopes to one day conquer?

If we give somebody really good connectivity, they can use whatever rights and subscriptions they have to entertain themselves.

I think that entertainment is a subset of connectivity, I don't think that connectivity is a subset of entertainment. So, what I mean by that is that if we give somebody really good connectivity, they can use whatever rights and subscriptions they have to entertain themselves, so they could watch a baseball game, a TV show or movie. If all you give people are pre-programmed choices, that's your only choice at that point, so I think that there's a long-term opportunity to provide entertainment, but to do it through connectivity. That's basically what our value proposition would be. I don't really look at us as good programmers, you know, picking things for people to watch. We don't really have any advantage in getting rights to movies or things like that. But I think we could be really good at providing low-cost connectivity and then let people use the rights they already have. I think people would find that pretty "entertaining," so to speak.

So ViaSat-1 is the highest capacity satellite in the world, but eventually it won't be able to support additional customers. Are there plans for a ViaSat-2?

Yes there are and what we're trying to do is come up with something that's got even better economics. At the stage we're at we have a new design, which has new system capabilities. That's kind of what we did with ViaSat-1, we came up with a satellite design approach that was really unique. We designed the way the satellite worked, and how it interacted with the ground. And that's what we're doing now, again, for ViaSat-2, in a different way, to get an even better result. We're working with some solid manufacturers and we have to wait until we get back a definitive firm proposal we can buy, and we're getting close to that.

Will the Exede infrastructure that customers are investing in now be compatible with a future product? Will customers be able to see a benefit once ViaSat-2 launches?

A lot of the ways that we're going to get improvements in the economics is through new technology insertion, so it's not necessarily true that a terminal you buy today will work on the new satellite. Well, it may work on the new satellite, but it may or may not deliver all of the benefits of the new satellite. For instance, we can use our old WildBlue network equipment on the new satellite if we wanted to, but it just doesn't deliver as much of the economic benefits. So it will be some combination of technology and business that enables the service to improve.

As an example of one of the things we can do now, we have existing WildBlue subscribers on the old satellites and we can make the old satellites better in two ways. We can use the new networking equipment on the old satellites and that'll confer some benefit. That's what we call the Exede 5 service, but you need a new terminal for that. We also realize that the old bandwidth that we have has a lower replacement cost, we can give more of it out when we advance the technology and acquire new satellites.

One of the things that we'll be doing, even for legacy WildBlue customers that don't get new equipment, is over time be able to allocate more bandwidth. As other users migrate from the old satellites to the new ones, there'll be more bandwidth available on the old satellites, and that'll allow us, over time, but not instantly, to improve the service quality and the speed offered at the same price, or the bandwidth offered at the same price. Those are the ways that people perceive better service with this new stuff through the old equipment.

Do you plan to introduce Exede and in-flight internet outside of North America at some point?

A company called Eutelsat in Europe has a satellite that's 70 gigabits called KA-SAT. It's about half the capacity of ViaSat-1.

Yes. We work as a technology provider in the US, we have our own satellites and we operate as a service provider. We're also providing global services internationally for business jets and defense users, using other people's satellites. The technical performance of the Exede service is largely an attribute of the networking equipment. That's a lot of what makes it be able to go so fast and be so responsive. But the economics are really driven by the satellite and how much bandwidth the satellite has. So we can recreate a similar user experience on other people's satellites, but we can't recreate the economics if they don't have a satellite that's as cost effective. There's very few satellites around the world that are even close, but there is one, a company called Eutelsat in Europe has a satellite that's 70 gigabits called KA-SAT. It's about half the capacity of ViaSat-1.

One of the things that I'd say is pretty interesting about the Exede service is we took all this bandwidth and packaged it in a way that we think people will find reasonably appealing. People haven't done that in many other places because they're sort of aiming lower. A lot of the times they're aiming for people who just don't have any choice at all and they're somehow trying to make the price point be very low --- because the service isn't appealing compared to alternatives. What we're trying to do is make it be a really good value, at a price point that we're used to, which is not the same as making it really cheap. For instance, provide a good ratio of megabits per second per dollar.

I'd say, the opportunity for us would be to go into other markets and try to use some of our packaging and marketing and retailing expertise to introduce it in some places using other people's satellites, and then if that can be successful we can then follow on with satellites that are like ViaSat-1 and ViaSat-2. I think there will be really good markets outside of the US. In a lot of ways I think that the US is actually one of the most difficult markets, mostly because of the cable network infrastructure that we have. We have very high penetration with cable TV in the US, and the cable infrastructure is good. In a lot of countries, they never really had high cable TV penetration because satellite TV got there first, and a lot of places don't have good telco infrastructures because wireless got there first, and so they just don't have very high landline penetration. So those markets, I think, are really good potential markets for satellite broadband.

What other products and services do you have in the pipeline?

You could carry one around in the trunk of your car.

One of the ones we think is pretty exciting is the satellite newsgathering capability we showed at CES. It's really just a way to get high-definition video and in some cases multiple high-definition cameras from remote locations pretty cost effectively. The airtime costs are much, much lower than conventional satellite costs, and the terminals are a lot smaller and much less expensive. You could carry one around in the trunk of your car. For many live events, where there's a lot of interest and you have multiple media people there, it's gonna be really hard to get enough wireless coverage to reliably stream high definition, so I think there's going to be demand for high-capacity satellite. It's a pretty interesting product and there's definitely scale opportunities there. Basically what we're looking to do is deliver bandwidth cost-effectively to places that are hard to serve otherwise, and I think that there's a lot of applications for that.

The other one that I think people will ultimately find very interesting is restoral bandwidth or backup bandwidth for cell towers in the event of emergencies or disasters. One example was after Hurricane Katrina. There was basically no telecom infrastructure available in New Orleans. We ended up providing emergency service just using conventional Ku-Band satellites, older satellites, with much more expensive airtime, and we would basically set up little satellite terminals, attach them to a few important cell towers and we would land cellular traffic here in Carlsbad. We did this with Qualcomm -- they had portable base stations, and so traffic would come in to either our switches here or Qualcomm's in San Diego. But we could only do it on a relatively small scale, in limited areas, and really just for voice and low-speed data. We're talking about only megabits of capacity for a whole city. You can imagine using a ViaSat-1-like satellite where you can provide hundreds of megabits or eventually even gigabits to a city that has a situation like that, and I think that would do a lot for rebuilding and getting things under control more quickly.

That's a relatively interesting application, and there are others for things that are more security oriented. The US spends fortunes on things like border patrol or maritime patrol -- those are both really important missions. Some parts of the world, there's maritime piracy, so if you can do better maritime patrol well, that's very important. Also, more and more things like oil exploration or gas exploration are very data intensive and they're in remote places, so these are things that have typically been good satellite applications. But they're not done well if the bandwidth costs a hundred times what it otherwise would. So that's really what we're trying to do is to bring satellite bandwidth costs more in line with what you might expect from terrestrial services.

What are you using at home to connect to the internet?

I have both our broadband service and a cable modem and I compare them. I have two WiFi zones, and in one part of the house it's closer to the cable modem, and the other part of the house is closer to the satellite one, and so when I'm wandering around with my iPhone or iPad it just hooks up to either one and usually I can't tell which. That's mostly what I'm looking for, that I can't really tell the difference on a portable device. That's mostly the case, not a hundred percent -- sometimes we find things that we need to fix.

One of the things we've got that really accounts for the responsiveness is a web-acceleration technology. We essentially compensate for webpage practices that are more sensitive to latency than they need to be. As things move to HTML5, I think webpages will be less sensitive to latency and congestion. People are becoming more aware of that now because of mobile devices where you get congestion in networks, and congestion is basically just like latency. So anyway, until that's pervasive, we basically test how our acceleration technology is working and we find those sites that don't respond well and we tend to fix them and most of the stuff works really well.

Verizon pushes its upgrade fee to $30 on April 22nd

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 08:32 AM PDT

Ah, it was only a matter of time before Verizon decided to jump on the bandwagon of ridiculously high upgrade fees, now that Sprint and AT&T have both exercised the option. Big Red announced this morning that April 22nd will be the magic date in which it will charge you a cool $30 just for the privilege of purchasing a subsidized handset and signing a fresh two-year commitment. Granted, it's still less than the $36 sum that Verizon's two largest competitors now demand, but we're going in the wrong direction here, folks. Catch the dreary announcement after the break.
Show full PR text
On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract. This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect which includes Wireless Workshops, online educational tools, and consultations with experts who provide advice and guidance on devices that are more sophisticated than ever.

While the upgrade fee is not unique to Verizon Wireless, most devices can be traded in with our green friendly trade-in program at www.verizonwireless.com/tradein as a way to save money or potentially offset the fee completely.

Three iPad giveaways in three days: day one, courtesy of Wonders of the Universe!

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 08:01 AM PDT

The response has been absolutely amazing since we began our regular series of giveaways two months ago. As a way of showing our gratitude -- not to mention the fact that these contests aren't going away anytime soon -- we're offering up three new iPads over the next three days! That's right, you'll have the chance to win one of Apple's latest tablets each day through Friday.

Let's meet our first contestant. We have a 16GB WiFi-only iPad up for grabs, courtesy of HarperCollins and its new app called "Wonders of the Universe." The astronomy app was designed for iOS5 and takes full advantage of the new iPad's Retina display. It essentially combines seven programs into one, offering a visual experience that lets you explore the Universe from subatomic levels all the way up to full galaxies. So read the rules, leave a comment and you've successfully entered to win for the first day! But you'll need to come back tomorrow and Friday if you want to take a shot at the other two.


Wednesday: 16GB WiFi-only, courtesy of Wonders app
Thursday: 16GB WiFi-only, courtesy of CloudOn
Friday: 32GB with AT&T LTE, courtesy of GoGo

The rules:
  • Leave a comment below. Any comment will do. Duplicate entries will be filtered out and discarded, so adding additional comments won't increase your likelihood of winning.
  • Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winners will be chosen randomly. One winner will win one (1) Apple iPad (2012).
  • If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
  • This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. HarperCollins, Wonders App and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honor warranties or customer service.
  • The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
  • Entries can be submitted until April 11, 2012 at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!

T-Mobile hands out press invites to One S event on April 18th

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 07:40 AM PDT

We knew T-Mobile has been planning to release its version of the HTC One S sometime in the near future, but we haven't received any official word on exactly when that desired release date will be. That should all change soon, because we just received invites to a shindig being held on April 18th in which we can hang out with the coveted smartphone, which likely means we'll finally get confirmation on when we should expect to see it available in stores and online. It seems as though the rumored April 25th launch may actually be spot-on, but we only have another week to wait before we find out.

Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in e-book price fixing case (update)

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 07:10 AM PDT

The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged e-book price-rigging. Apple and Macmillian have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry previously dominated by Amazon. 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 which allows stores to sell books at rock-bottom prices. It was previously believed that the publishers had cut back-room deals with the Government agency after bowing to pressure to withdraw Cupertino's "favored nation" status. If successful, the DoJ will allow Amazon and Barnes and Noble amongst others to return to the wholesale model to sell best-sellers at a loss, something that the big five are desperate to avoid, and will look to fight the battle in court.

Update: The PDF of the DoJ's filing is now available online -- it makes for fascinating reading.

Update 2: Bloomberg is now reporting that Simon & Schuster, Lagardère SCA's Hachette Book Group and HarperCollins have settled with the DoJ over unspecified terms. Hasty!

Allerta intros Pebble smartwatch, inPulse's attractive younger sibling

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Remember the inPulse Smartwatch? Say hello to its attractive younger sibling, the Pebble e-paper watch. Allerta's latest creation -- which is launching today on Kickstarter for $99 in three colors -- is "the first smartwatch to offer full iPhone and iOS compatibility". It features a 1.26-inch 144x168-pixel black and white e-paper display with backlight, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, four buttons, a vibrating motor and a three-axis accelerometer. The battery is expected to last more than seven days on a charge.

Pebble receives call, email and message notifications from iOS and Android devices over Bluetooth. It supports downloadable watchfaces and activity-specific watchapps for controlling music, cycling, running and golfing. Allerta's even teamed up with Freecaddie to create a rangefinder app for over 25,000 golf courses worldwide. The timepiece can run several watchapps simultaneously -- these can be installed over Bluetooth using the Pebble App for iOS and Android (2.3 or higher) and developed using the Pebble SDK.

Color choices include white, black, red and a fourth hue to be voted on by early backers of the project -- hurray to crowdsourcing. Pricing is $99 on Kickstarter today and $149 at retail later this year. Want more info? Check out the gallery below, then hit the break for the PR details and the Kickstarter link.
Allerta Pebble smartwatch PR shots
Show full PR text
Pebble e-paper watch launches on Kickstarter

New smartwatch features daylight-readable e-paper display, iPhone and
Android compatibility, sports and fitness apps and 7+ day battery life

Palo Alto - April 11, 2012 - Allerta, the company behind the inPulse smartwatch for Blackberry, today introduced the next generation Pebble smartwatch. It is the first smartwatch to offer full iPhone and iOS compatibility. Pebble features a 1.26" electronic-paper display that delivers a crisp, high resolution text and images while enabling the watch to last for over 7 days on battery.

Pebble is the first watch built for the 21st century. It's infinitely customizable, with beautiful
downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps. Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth 2.1, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages. While designing Pebble, we strove to create a minimalist yet fashionable product that seamlessly blends into everyday life.

Many apps are being built to run on Pebble. Cyclists can use Pebble as a bike computer, accessing the GPS on a smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data. Runners get a similar set of data displayed on their wrist. The music control app allows users to play, pause or skip tracks on their smartphone with the touch of a button. Golfer can feel free to bring Pebble onto the course. Pebble has partnered with Freecaddie to create a great golf rangefinder app for Pebble that works on over 25,000 courses world-wide. Instead of looking at a smartphone app, golfers can view current distance to the green right on their wrist.

Multiple watchapps can run on the watch simultaneously. New watchapps can be downloaded and installed on Pebble using the Pebble App available for iOS 5+ and Android 2.3+ devices. Using the free and open Pebble SDK, developers can create their own watchapps that take advantage of the built-in 3-axis accelerometer, e-paper display, vibrating motor, 4 buttons and Bluetooth chip. Developers can also take advantage of the push notification system that Pebble uses to receive and transmit data to the internet.

Pebble is launching on Kickstarter on April 11, 2012. Prices start at $99. Pebble is available
in 4 colors: Arctic White, Jet Black, Cherry Red, and a 4th color option that will be voted on by backers of the project. Pebble will retail for $149 when it goes on sale later this year.

Gaikai brings its cloud gaming to Facebook, launches beta application

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT

Gaikai's certainly grown leaps and bounds since its early days, and today the cloud gaming firm takes another step by joining the largest social networking platform on the globe. For starters, this first beta of Gaikai's Facebook application is available to North American / European gamers, offering support for browsers such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari and Firefox on Windows, OS X or Linux machines. Gamers who've fiddled around with the outfit's previous betas or Walmart's Gaikai powered Gamecenter will know the drill: streaming game demos in the frame of your web browser.

Ready to try before you buy? The setup is serving up samples of Saints Row: The Third, Dead Rising 2, Magicka, Sniper: Ghost Warrior, The Witcher 2, Orcs Must Die! and Farming Simulator 2011. Gaikai CEO and co-founder David Perry told us that while the outfit's current Facebook rigging is still centered around demos, it's primed to push full titles if and when a publisher requests it. "Our goal is to get games as accessible as movies and music," he told us "so games get the chance to compete." Gaikai v1.0 is live on Zuck's site now, so click the source link below, pop in your Facebook credentials and you should be all set.

Sean Buckley contributed to this post.
Show full PR text
Gaikai Launches First Ever Cloud Gaming Facebook App, Streaming Console-Quality Games to 400M+ Users

A VC Backed Start-Up Bridges Social Gaming & Console-Quality Gaming, The Two Largest Video Game Markets - Increasing The Reach of High-End Video Games Over 50x By Making Them Instantly Playable Inside Facebook.

LOS ANGELES, CA - Apr. 11, 2012 - Gaikai Inc., the innovative cloud gaming service, today launches the Beta of its Facebook app which will deliver high-end, console quality game experiences directly to consumers from inside the world's leading social network.

By streaming their games through Gaikai video game publishers can now easily reach hundreds of millions of potential new players in North America and Europe. The beta will allow gamers to try out a selection of games for free.

"People don't want to leave Facebook to play games – Zynga's phenomenal success is proof of that," said David Perry, CEO of Gaikai, "Cloud Gaming means that the game doesn't need to be downloaded and run on your computer, it literally means the game runs out on the internet, in the cloud, with the experience being streamed to the players. Most video game publishers are now seeking to grow their digital customer base and unlike movie and music services like Netflix and Spotify, Gaikai gives the game publishers relationships with the customers."

Perry continues, "The power of Facebook is not only in the vast size of the connected audience, but also in the quality of the social ties and interactions that occur within the network. The Facebook social graph fuels our mantra "Try it for free", "Share it if you like it", "Buy it if you love it"."

The first games to try in the Beta v1.0 Launch are:

Saints Row - The Third (USA)
Dead Rising 2 - Off the Record (USA)
Magicka (USA & Europe)
Sniper - Ghost Warrior (USA & Europe)
The Witcher 2 - Assassins of Kings (USA & Europe)
Orcs Must Die! (USA & Europe)
Farming Simulator 2011 (USA & Europe)

"Gaikai's technology allows us to deliver our games to a wider audience," stated Kevin Kraff, Vice President of Global Brand Management at THQ. "As content creators it's not only paramount that we give our players great entertainment but also that we give them a choice in how they access it. Streaming inside Facebook is not only revolutionary, but is something that both new and existing players will benefit from."

Gaikai's streaming technology allows players to sample games before they buy them and gives publishers a new way to build anticipation, increase sales reach and significantly reduce player acquisition costs.

What you need to play:
The Gaikai Facebook app is currently available in North America & Europe. To play you will need to be in a Gaikai coverage area with a broadband internet connection and Java installed. Gaikai works on any PC or Mac using Windows, Mac OS or Linux. Gaikai works in all major browsers including Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
Use this link to experience Gaikai's Facebook app: https://apps.facebook.com/gaikai-games/

Visit http://www.gaikai.com/games to try even more games at Gaikai.com.

For support use this link: http://www.gaikai.com/faq

Google+ gets a major update, simpler UI and heavier focus on Hangouts (video)

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 06:41 AM PDT

Google isn't quite calling it version 2.0, but today's update to its flagship social product is just that. As with most Mountain View projects, the new Google+ will rollout gradually, but as it does it may just lure back some of those who jumped ship early on. The UI has been greatly streamlined with a customizable ribbon of shortcuts on the left and your buddy list moved to the right. The main interface has been tidied up quite a bit and a new focus has been placed on one of the universally beloved features of the beleaguered social network -- Hangouts. The video chat party lines will be getting their own dedicated home page too, allowing you to quickly peruse any Hangouts that are available to you. Even profiles are getting a dramatic facelift with larger photos and Sparks have officially been retired in favor of an Explore tab. Perhaps most welcome though is the enhanced multimedia sharing. To see all the fancy new features in action check out the videos after the break. And, of course, let us know if you're seeing the shiny new layout on your end -- we're still waiting on Google to flip the switch for us.
Google+ redesign

Twitter and Facebook for BlackBerry get BBM connected, BBM gets some animated avatars

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 06:24 AM PDT

BlackBerry fans of the world over rejoice: some of your favorite social apps have just become slightly more connected to your favorite smartphone ecosystem. RIM announced today via its official blog that the 3.0 versions of Facebook and Twitter for BlackBerry have become BBM connected, meaning, among other things, that you can share status updates, tweets and the like with your BBM contacts. The Canadian smartphone maker also used the opportunity to announce a handful of additional updates to fellow BlackBerry App World apps like BBM itself, which is getting BlackBerry Tag integration and, hold onto your BlackBerry hats, new animated avatars. You can find all of the relevant updates by clicking the source link below.

BBC Sport connected TV app launches on UK TiVos, brings BBC News along

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 06:01 AM PDT

As a part of the BBC's run up to this year's Olympics, it is bringing new approaches to broadcast technology in a number of ways including 3D, online streaming, multiple HD channels and now, connected TV apps. Today it's launching a BBC Sports app for connected TVs that bring in new interactive features via the BBC Red Button which will first appear on Virgin Media's TiVo platform, along with a port of its BBC News app. First up for the interactive treatment? F1 racing, starting with the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend. In the app viewers can access live coverage of the race, highlights from previous races, and multifeed coverage of the race including in-car cameras and driver trackers. There's a video demo and press release embedded after the break (viewable in the UK only), and the Sports app is expected to hit more devices before the Olympics starts, although it's unclear which ones.

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BBC launches next-generation sport app on connected TVs
BBC Sport TV app
Date: 11.04.2012Last updated: 11.04.2012 at 11.04

Category: Online and interactive; Sport

The BBC has launched its new sport app for connected TVs, enabling audiences to access the BBC's interactive coverage of major sporting events via the BBC Red Button.

This is the BBC's next generation TV experience, seamlessly integrating linear TV with online and on-demand content at the simple click of a button.

Initially focusing on Formula 1, the BBC Sport app will bring all the race action together in one place, with live streams, on-demand video and additional content. During races that are covered live on BBC One, fans won't miss a second of the race, with access to alternative options such as on-board cameras which take the viewer to the heart of the action and the 'driver tracker' that shows where each car is on the circuit. As well as the races themselves, there will be full coverage of practice and qualifying sessions.

Over the next few months, the BBC Sport app will also include coverage of Euro 2012, Wimbledon and London 2012 Olympic Games for sports fans across the UK.

The BBC Sport app will sit alongside the award-winning BBC News app, which includes the best of BBC News on TV, online, and on-demand along with the BBC iPlayer app for connected TVs.

The BBC News and Sport apps both launch today on Virgin Media's TiVo service, bringing BBC Red Button to around 500,000 Virgin Media TiVo homes, for free. The BBC Sport app for connected TVs will be made available on a range of additional devices.

Launching BBC Sport on connected TVs is another important step in the BBC's strategy to bring its content to audiences across four screens: the PC, mobile, tablet and connected TVs.

Phil Fearnley, General Manager for News and Knowledge in the BBC's Future Media division, said: "We are very excited to be launching our new BBC Sport app and Red Button service for connected TVs. Today's launch will ensure we bring our next-generation TV experience to sports fans across the UK, integrating TV and online content seamlessly at the click of a button.

"With predictions there'll be almost 36 million connected TVs installed in UK homes by the end of 2016*, the new BBC sport app is a great new way for these audiences to access the best of BBC's content."

Notes to Editors

* Source: 3 Reasons Ltd, Spring 2011. This number projects sets technically capable of connection; numbers of actual connected sets will be lower, depending on broadband penetration, consumer behaviour etc.

The BBC will be providing live coverage of the following 10 races in the 2012 Formula 1 season across all its platforms: 15 April – China, 13 May – Spain, 27 May – Monaco, 24 June – Europe, 8 July – Britain, 2 September – Belgium, 23 September – Singapore, 14 October – Korea, 4 November - Abu Dhabi, 25 November – Brazil.

During Euro 2012 and Wimbledon, the new BBC Sport app will offer a range of alternative coverage options in line with those offered on the BBC Sport website, including additional matches/games, choice of audio commentary options, stats and rolling highlights.

Throughout the London 2012 Olympics Games, the new BBC Sport app will give audiences access to 2,500 hours of content and up to 24 simultaneous live events, all in HD, ensuring that, for the first time ever, millions of viewers across the UK will be able to watch every Olympic sport, live from every venue. Viewers will be able to access the same content that will be streamed live on the BBC Sport website on their TVs, through the app on their TV, as well as on all four screens online – mobile, tablet, connected TV and PC. There will also be a comprehensive range of highlights and news headlines available 24/7. More details will be announced in due course.

The BBC News app for connected TV brings video news clips via the web to living room TV screens. Designed as a complement to the BBC's live 24-hour news channel, editorial teams in the newsrooms curate clips around the clock to run alongside text-based news from BBC News Online – all started, stopped, and navigated via the remote control.

Nokia: Two million Lumia phones sold in Q1 but profits still falling

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 05:38 AM PDT

Nokia's announced preliminary information on its forthcoming Q1 results due on April 19th. It's reportedly sold €4.2 billion worth of phones, €2.3 billion coming from the sale of 71 million dumbphones and €1.7 billion coming from smart devices. On the upside, sales of the Lumia handsets are still growing, selling two million of the series in the last three months alone. However, "competitive industry dynamics" and the cost of its painful transition into a modern smartphone player have meant the numbers aren't too pleasing. The figures mean that the company will make a loss of around three percent below "break even," but Stephen Elop remains bullish, saying that his team is "continuing to increase the clock speed of the company" and that "the change is tangible."
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Nokia lowers Devices & Services first quarter 2012 outlook and provides second quarter 2012 outlook

Difficult financial performance reflects company in transition

Positive early momentum in Lumia smartphone strategy

Nokia Corporation
Stock exchange release
April 11, 2012 at 15.00 (CET+1)

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today provided preliminary information on certain aspects of its first quarter 2012 financial performance, including a lowered first quarter 2012 outlook for Devices & Services. During the first quarter 2012, multiple factors negatively affected Nokia's Devices & Services business to a greater extent than previously expected. These factors included:

- Competitive industry dynamics, which negatively affected net sales in the Mobile Phones and Smart Devices business units, particularly in India, the Middle East and Africa and China; and
- Gross margin declines, particularly in the Smart Devices business unit.

The impact of these factors on the non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin in the first quarter 2012 was partially offset by a significant benefit from lower warranty costs.

Updated outlook for Devices & Services for the first quarter 2012:
Nokia currently estimates that its non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin in the first quarter 2012 was approximately negative 3 percent, compared to the previously expected range of "around breakeven, ranging either above or below by approximately 2 percentage points" primarily due to the factors noted above.

Outlook for Devices & Services for the second quarter 2012:
Nokia expects its non-IFRS Devices & Services operating margin in the second quarter 2012 to be similar to or below the first quarter 2012 level. This outlook reflects that the first quarter 2012 benefit related to lower warranty costs is expected to be non-recurring, as well as expectations regarding a number of factors including:

- competitive industry dynamics continuing to negatively affect the Smart Devices and Mobile Phones business units;
- timing, ramp-up, and consumer demand related to new products; and
- the macroeconomic environment.

"Our disappointing Devices & Services first quarter 2012 financial results and outlook for the second quarter 2012 illustrates that our Devices & Services business continues to be in the midst of transition," said Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia. "Within our Smart Devices business unit, we have established early momentum with Lumia, and we are increasing our investments in Lumia to achieve market success. Our operator and distributor partners are providing solid support for Windows Phone as a third ecosystem, as evidenced most recently by the launch of the Lumia 900 by AT&T in the United States."

Additional commentary on the first quarter 2012 for Devices & Services and Nokia:
Nokia currently estimates that Devices & Services net sales in the first quarter 2012 were EUR 4.2 billion, comprised of Mobile Phones net sales of EUR 2.3 billion (71 million units), Smart Devices net sales of EUR 1.7 billion (12 million units), and Devices & Services Other net sales of EUR 0.2 billion. Based on the preliminary view, Nokia ended the first quarter 2012 around the high end of our normal 4 to 6 week channel inventory range, but on an absolute unit basis, channel inventories declined sequentially.

Nokia currently estimates that Devices & Services gross margin (including Devices & Services Other) for the first quarter 2012 was approximately 25%, with Mobile Phones gross margin of approximately 26% and Smart Devices gross margin of approximately 16%.

In the first quarter 2012, Nokia sold more than 2 million Lumia devices at an average selling price of approximately EUR 220 (reported within the Smart Devices business unit). Furthermore, Nokia has seen sequential growth in Lumia device activations every month since starting sales of Lumia devices in November 2011. Lumia has gained market share with both distribution partners and consumers. The Windows Phone ecosystem is also attracting developers and has expanded rapidly with more than 80,000 applications available.

Nokia currently estimates that at the end of the first quarter 2012, the company's gross cash and other liquid assets were approximately EUR 9.8 billion, and Nokia's net cash and other liquid assets were approximately EUR 4.9 billion. The sequential decline in net cash and other liquid assets was driven by Devices & Services, which experienced unfavorable and mostly non-recurring net working capital changes as well as operating losses. Nokia Siemens Networks contributed positively to Nokia's cash flow in the first quarter 2012 due to net working capital improvements. This was despite Nokia Siemens Networks having a preliminarily estimated non-IFRS operating margin of approximately negative 5 percent in the first quarter 2012, in line with the previously provided outlook.

Actions to Address Competitive Industry Dynamics Affecting Devices & Services
Nokia is quickly taking action. Nokia will continue to increase its focus on accelerating Lumia sales, as well as on lowering the company's cost structure, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position.

- In the Smart Devices business unit, Nokia is increasing investments in Lumia to bring more products to more consumers in more markets.
- In the Mobile Phones business unit, Nokia is taking tactical pricing actions in the near term and plans to bring new products to market in the second quarter 2012.
- Nokia will accelerate planned cost reductions and will pursue additional significant structural actions if and when necessary.

"We are continuing to increase the clock speed of the company," said Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia. "The change is tangible, and we are proud of the way Nokia employees are quickly responding to the needs of consumers and partners."

Nokia will provide full first quarter results and more details when it reports its first quarter 2012 results on April 19, 2012.

Is Windows Phone 8 popping up on a WP7 App?

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 05:03 AM PDT

The "I'm a WP7" app is now showing records of both Windows Phone 8 Apollo (build 8.0.9662.0) and Windows 8 Desktop Jupiter (6.2.8288.0) emulators. It seems to tie in with rumors that software testing for the mobile OS was ramped up on March 30th in anticipation for release later this year. WP8 will bring a host of long-desired features to its battle with Android and iOS, including multiple screen resolutions, dual-core CPUs, NFC and microSD support. Now we can start wildly speculating on which Greco-Roman God / Battlestar Galactica character will lend its name to future software builds.

AT&T lights up LTE network in St Louis, expands coverage in Staten Island

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 04:02 AM PDT

AT&T continues to slowly spread its flavor of 4G LTE throughout the land, tonight crossing two St. Louis and Staten Island off of its spring / early summer expansion list. The timing is favorable for anyone that gave up high speed wireless internet access for Lent, however everyone else still waiting for access will be looking on in jealousy. With brand new access in St. Louis and expanded coverage in Staten Island (4G LTE is live in all five boroughs) AT&T has pulled off the rare trifecta of pleasing Nelly, the Wu-Tang Clan and, perhaps, Bruce Springsteen.

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AT&T 4G LTE Expands in Staten Island

More customers to benefit from ultra-fast mobile Internet on the latest LTE devices

NEW YORK, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* has expanded its 4G LTE network in Staten Island, bringing more customers the latest generation of wireless network technology. The expanded coverage is part of its ongoing rollout across the market. AT&T 4G LTE coverage now includes all five boroughs.

AT&T 4G LTE provides several benefits, including:

Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering mobile Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. Customers can stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.
Cool new devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets, such as the first LTE Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 900, Samsung Galaxy Note™, and Pantech Element™ tablet.
Faster response time. LTE technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start downloading a webpage or file once you've sent the request. Lower latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video calling and telemedicine.
More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry data traffic and services and to deliver a better network experience.

"We've seen positive response from customers on our 4G LTE launch, and as today's expansion shows, we're continuing our rollout of fast LTE speeds to more areas of Staten Island," said Tom DeVito, Vice President General Manager for New York and New Jersey.

AT&T's 4G Network
AT&T customers have access to the nation's largest 4G network, covering nearly 250 million people. Even as 4G LTE expands, AT&T customers are able to enjoy widespread, ultra-fast and consistent 4G speeds on their compatible device as they move in and out of LTE areas. AT&T has two 4G networks that work together for customers, LTE and HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. With other carriers, when you travel outside of their LTE coverage area, you're on a much slower 3G network.

Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. Deployment ongoing. 4G LTE device and data plan required. Up to 10x claim compares 4G LTE download speeds to industry average 3G download speeds. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. Learn more about 4G LTE at att.com/network.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

4G LTE From AT&T Available in St. Louis

Customers to benefit from ultra-fast mobile Internet on the latest LTE devices

ST. LOUIS, April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* has turned on its 4G LTE network in St. Louis, bringing customers the latest generation of wireless network technology. AT&T 4G LTE provides several benefits, including:

Faster speeds. LTE technology is capable of delivering mobile Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G. Customers can stream, download, upload and game faster than ever before.
Cool new devices. AT&T offers several LTE-compatible devices, including new AT&T 4G LTE smartphones and tablets, such as the first LTE Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 900, Samsung Galaxy Note™, and Pantech Element™ tablet.
Faster response time. LTE technology offers lower latency, or the processing time it takes to move data through a network, such as how long it takes to start downloading a webpage or file once you've sent the request. Lower latency helps to improve services like mobile gaming, two-way video calling and telemedicine.
More efficient use of spectrum. Wireless spectrum is a finite resource, and LTE uses spectrum more efficiently than other technologies, creating more space to carry data traffic and services and to deliver a better network experience.

"We continue to see demand for mobile Internet skyrocket, and our 4G LTE network in St. Louis responds to what customers want from their mobile experience - more, faster, on the best devices," said Nancy Garvey, AT&T's vice president/general manager for the Greater Midwest Region.

AT&T's 4G Network

AT&T customers have access to the nation's largest 4G network, covering nearly 250 million people. Even as 4G LTE expands, AT&T customers are able to enjoy widespread, ultra-fast and consistent 4G speeds on their compatible device as they move in and out of LTE areas. AT&T has two 4G networks that work together for customers, LTE and HSPA+ with enhanced backhaul. With other carriers, when you travel outside of their LTE coverage area, you're on a much slower 3G network.

Limited 4G LTE availability in select markets. Deployment ongoing. 4G LTE device and data plan required. Up to 10x claim compares 4G LTE download speeds to industry average 3G download speeds. LTE is a trademark of ETSI. 4G speeds not available everywhere. Learn more about 4G LTE at att.com/network.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

New Eye-Fi Mobile X2 card does old tricks, but with less hassle for Android and iOS users

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 03:22 AM PDT

Direct Mode on an Eye-Fi card makes a lot of sense when you want to beam photos from your camera straight to your smartphone. The latest edition of the Mobile X2 promises to simplify this process by coming pre-configured for Direct Mode from the factory, and being accompanied by a 10-digit pairing code that'll let you register the camera securely with the Eye-Fi app on your Android phone without recourse to a PC. We'd feel more excited about this if Toshiba's FlashAir card hadn't done something similar already using a clever browser-based connection we saw at CES. Still, if Eye-Fi is the brand and workflow you want to stick with, then be advised that this particular Mobile X2 is Japan-only for now. However, a worldwide release is planned at some point, along with an update to the iOS app that'll make the key-code pairing thing work for that other section of humanity too.

Spotify launches Play Button in bid to become the web's default music player

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 03:00 AM PDT

The music streaming wars have been heating up a good deal, as of late, thanks in no small part Spotify's long-awaited US launch. Since then, Rhapsody bought its one-time chief competitor Napster, both Pandora and Rdio underwent major redesigns and Mog finally launched a Windows client. Naturally, all of this has proven good news for the consumer, as services have a features arms race of sorts, gunning for the top spot. None of the contenders are quite perfect, of course -- when Spotify launched, for example, we couldn't help but note the absence of a browser-based option of the sort employed by Rdio and Pandora. Today's announcement still leaves open that possibility, but it does mark a new web-focused strategy for the company -- on that could arguably have a much larger impact on Spotify's fortunes than a simple browser-based UI.

Today marks the launch of the Spotify Play Button -- a name we assume the Swedish company settled on before Google announced the whole Android Market rebranding thing. The button is, essentially, a widget that allows site owners to embed songs and playlists directly from Spotify's massive catalog of songs. It's a simple idea, sure, but well executed, it could prove a major win in the service's attempt to stand out in the ever-more competitive world of music streaming. After all, embedding music on sites has long been a fairly haphazard deal -- unless you happen to have a deal with a proprietary player, it means snapping up something like a YouTube video, which often live in, at best, a legal gray area.



Of course, the company wouldn't launch a new feature like this without announcing some high profile partners, and Spotify's got a pretty solid lineup here, including Tumblr, The Huffington Post, Time Out Group , The Guardian, NME, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, People and Spin, among others. Spotify is really playing up the Tumblr integration in particular, which lets users create embeds that match their blog theme with a few clicks.

The real news here, though, is just how easy the feature is for all of the amateurs out there. Spotify gave us early access to an early build of the Widget Creator tool, and really, the whole thing was accomplished with a few clicks. You grab the link of a song, album or playlist from the Spotify app with a right click, paste it in the field and click Generate. The app offers up two options -- a small embed, as seen above the break, and the larger one seen below. We opted for a single track for the small embed and a playlist for the larger, though you don't have to adhere to that. You can grab the embed code from a field or the widget itself once created -- click on the upper right corner on either one right now, and you'll see fields for an embed and URL.


The player's default design is straightforward and should fit into most blog settings fairly well -- the small version is a quarter devoted to the cover art, with the artist and track name above the status bar. You can also adjust the dimensions and make a few tweaks to the color scheme. Clicking the art will play the track. If it's a playlist, you'll get options for advancing the track next to the status bar. The only aesthetically jarring bit (assuming, of course, that this isn't Cannibal Corpse artwork that we're dealing with here) is the bright green Spotify logo in the bottom right hand corner -- but, hey, it's gotta remind us all who's running the show, right? The larger player, meanwhile, devotes the bottom portion to the artwork of the current track. If you're dealing with a playlist here, you can toggle this to view a listing of all the included tracks.

As promised, there are no pop up or banner ads here. Also cool is the fact that, should you happen to be signed into Spotify at the time, the song will also register is playing on the app, which means, for example, that if you're listening to a tune on Spotify and click another via the play button on a blog, the two won't play over one another, sound collage-style. Non-paying users, however, will still be served up with the normal barrage of ads -- Spotify does have to turn a buck, after all.

So, why doesn't this exact product already exist in the world? We suspect that the problem lies -- as it often does -- with the record labels. How did Spotify circumvent the thorny maze of negotiation on this? Well, the company already struck deals with the labels. We spoke to a Spotify employee who assured us that the company didn't actually strike any new deals here -- meaning, apparently, that the site believes the new method of distribution to be covered by its existing deals. It remains to be seen whether labels are ultimately as pleased by this as Spotify seems to think they'll be.

From a consumer perspective, however, if you weren't a Spotify user before, you likely will be one soon -- whether or not you actually go so far as signing up with the service. If you regularly visit one of the aforementioned partners or even personal music blogs, odds are good that Spotify will be playing your jam soon.

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Introducing the Spotify Play Button

Calling all bloggers and web editors! Today we're making Spotify available across the internet with the introduction of the Spotify Play Button - giving you the power to play any song, album or playlist in Spotify through your website instantly, legally and for free.

The new Spotify Play Button makes it easier than ever to deliver all the world's music to your online fans. No more distracting banners and pop ups, no more legal takedowns, just millions of songs available in top quality audio.

"Today we're giving every blogger and web editor the ability to light up the internet with music," says Gustav Söderström, Chief Product Officer at Spotify. "Adding a personalised soundtrack to your website or blog has never been this easy."

He adds: "You want to give your fans access to any song, album or playlist of your choosing and in its entirety, while ensuring people stay glued to your site. The Spotify Play Button does all of this for free, while making sure artists get paid for every play."

We've teamed up with some of the best and brightest to offer the Spotify Play Button to their fans from today. Partners include Tumblr, The Huffington Post, ELLE , Entertainment Weekly, PEOPLE , Time Out Group (New York City, Paris, London), Rolling Stone, Mashable, FanBridge, ShareMyPlaylists.com, FanRx, Popdust, The Independent, the Guardian, NME, Wonderwall, The Fader, Pitchfork, Noisey.com, Chegg, and SPIN.com.

The Spotify Play Button is now fully integrated into the Tumblr dashboard. So if you blog with Tumblr, just type in the song or album you want, and Tumblr makes the widget for you to fit in your blogs theme.

David Karp, Tumblr founder and CEO, comments, "We deeply value music as a form of creative expression. That Spotify now lets our users share from millions of their favorite songs is revolutionary, and as huge fans of the product, we are absolutely overjoyed about this partnership."

The Huffington Post has also teamed up with us for the first time, combining Spotify's music know-how with the US news website's editorial expertise.

"We're always looking for surprising new ways to engage our users, and what better way than with music?" says Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group.

She adds: "We're delighted to partner with Spotify to introduce great music across The Huffington Post. Now, in addition to starting and joining conversations, our users can experience custom soundtracks - whether it's upbeat workout playlists for our Healthy Living section or the latest crowd-moving party songs for the brides and grooms checking out HuffPost Weddings."

Getting the Spotify Play Button for your website couldn't be simpler: just grab any song, album or playlist URI from within Spotify and head to our developer website to get the embed link. That's it!

Anyone new to Spotify will be set up with the Spotify desktop app, which powers the button in the background, as soon as they start playing the music - your fans will never have to leave your site.

Intel Medfield-packing Lenovo K800 to land next month, has an avatar in tow

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 02:20 AM PDT

Wondering when the Lenovo K800 will finally land? Or perhaps you're curious about how those Medfield processors will perform in real life? The answer to both those questions should be with us towards the end of next month -- according to Intel's Sean Maloney, who's hosting the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing right now. Announcing via microblogging site Sina Weibo, Maloney didn't go as far as fixing a date, but did go on to confirm that it will also be bringing the firm's new "Avatar Technology" with it (pictured after the break). What that is exactly, has yet to be revealed, but we're pretty sure / hopeful James Cameron's not involved.

Update: Our sources indicated that the launch will be towards the end of May, but yeah, still exclusive to China.
Image

NFC version of Nokia Lumia 610 accidentally leaked on YouTube (update: now official)

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 01:38 AM PDT

In a world where NFC is just starting to become useful, its notable absence on Nokia's Windows Phones has been increasingly, well, notable. But a video that temporarily appeared on the Finnish phone-maker's YouTube account reveals that NFC is indeed coming, with a new version of the Lumia 610 on the Orange network apparently set to become the first handset to make it happen somewhere in Europe. The video was quickly pulled, but not before Thegadgetbuff managed to grab a dodgy rip of it, which you'll see after the break. It contains an interview with Andrea Bacioccola, whose job title ("Lead program manager, NFC") pretty much says it all -- even before he gets to mentioning stuff like FourSquare checking-in, audio speaker pairing like with the N9, and a new Nokia Tag Writer app that could possibly do something similar to the customizable Xperia SmartTag system. See for yourself after the break, and as mentioned, please forgive the clip's piratical quality.

Update: Nokia has put out a press release confirming the above, and saying that the new NFC-equipped Lumia 610 will be out on Orange early in the next quarter. It's also certified for MasterCard's PayPass technology. Official video now added too.
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Monaco - Nokia today announced an NFC version of the recently-launched Nokia Lumia 610, the most affordable smartphone in the Lumia range and the perfect introduction to Windows Phone for a younger audience.

Orange will be the first operator to range the Lumia 610 NFC, which can pair with NFC accessories and read NFC tags. The Lumia 610 NFC also has the hardware and software enablers for the implementation of NFC payment and ticketing solutions, and has been certified for contactless payments both with MasterCard PayPass® technology, and with Visa's mobile application for payments at the point of sale, Visa payWave.

"Nokia continues to lead the field in NFC with this latest implementation on the Windows Phone platform, in which we have the full support of Orange," said Ilari Nurmi, head of product marketing for Nokia's Smart Devices business unit. "We're bringing NFC right across our portfolio, and together with our ever-growing range of NFC accessories we're making it easy for people to connect via a single tap. We're also enabling operators and other service providers to build NFC payment and ticketing solutions on top of our smartphones."

"Orange is committed to rolling out mobile NFC services in all its European territories and as part of this goal we're very excited to be the first operator to launch the Lumia 610 NFC," said Yves Maitre, Senior VP Mobile Multimedia & Devices at Orange. "The Nokia Lumia smartphones have been very well received by Orange customers. We are now going one step further and adding an NFC-enabled handset to this popular range of devices, enabling people to use contactless services via a single tap. Nokia is a natural fit for us regarding NFC and, like Orange, has shown a very early commitment to the standard."

Payments certified

MasterCard PayPass® technology provides consumers with a fast and convenient alternative to cash at the point of sale for their everyday purchases. Devices certified by MasterCard, such as the Lumia 610 NFC, go through a rigorous testing process by a MasterCard accredited laboratory to ensure they will work seamlessly with the PayPass network.

"We are excited to have certified the Lumia 610 NFC for use with our industry-leading PayPass technology, joining other Nokia smartphones helping consumers choose when, where and how they shop on devices they own and love," said Mung Ki Woo, group executive, Mobile at MasterCard.

The Lumia 610 NFC is expected to be available early in the third quarter of 2012.

James Cameron to create sparks with Robogeddon on Discovery Channel

Posted: 11 Apr 2012 12:24 AM PDT

Fresh off his return from the briny deep, James Cameron is set to create a television show for the Discovery Channel called Robogeddon. Similar to BattleBots and Robot Wars, the program will feature a competitive death match of sorts, where robots tear each other to shreds in pursuit of being the last machine standing. In addition to Cameron's participation, the show will also feature the stamp of Mark Burnett -- famous for such reality television titles as Survivor, Shark Tank and The Voice. It's also said that Donald Hutson, the two-time Super Heavyweight Champion of BattleBots, will be among the show's competitors. No date is set for when we'll see the sparks fly, but if you want to get in on the ground floor, might we suggest hitting your local scrapyard?

YouTube gives live video streamers better production tools, ways to make money

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 10:47 PM PDT

It's been about a year since YouTube took the beta tag off of its live video streams and to celebrate it's flipping the switch on a few new features. One major way to pull in better content is to allow its publishers to profit from it, and now they can either by charging viewers pay-per-view-style or through instream ads. On the backend they have improvements like a guided flow to follow before events go live and real time data breaking down their viewership by geography and format. Finally, Google is also provided Wirecast for YouTube Live free of charge, a bit of software that it says allows partners to do all the production (capture, switching between sources, live effects and overlays and more) necessary for "professional looking" live events. There's more information available after the break, but as long as this means we never have to see another jump cut vlog then we're all for it.

Wolfram Alpha now does literary analysis, breaks down the Bard's work

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 09:33 PM PDT

Literary geeks rejoice! Wolfram Alpha has given you the tools to examine the works of William Shakespeare in ways you've never cared to imagined. Ever wondered how many words are in the second act of Othello? Or what the longest word is in A Midsummer Night's Dream? The answers to such (largely unasked) queries are now mere keystrokes away, and not just for the Bard's writings, either. That's right, folks, computational analysis of the works from such luminaries as Melville, Dickens, and Twain are on tap, too. The folks at Wolfram Alpha are also looking to increase the number of supported titles, so head on down to the source link and let them know which ones you want to see.

That's right, folks: Instagram now supports HTC One X

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 08:19 PM PDT

Upon it's debut, one notable smartphone was curiously absent from Instagram's list of supported devices: the HTC One X. Thankfully, all of that worry is now behind filter lovers, as the latest update for this Android app has added support for HTC's premiere superphone and its stellar camera. In addition, the refresh is said to deliver better support for all devices based on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 platform, provide better support for tablet users and squash a nasty bug that'd caused Instagram photos to not appear in the gallery. With this issue behind us, we can now resume living our lives without worry or fear.

Apple publishes support page for Flashback malware, is working on a fix

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 06:50 PM PDT

After the Flashback / Flashfake Mac trojan was exposed by Russian site Dr. Web, Apple has finally responded by publishing a support page about the issue and promising a fix. If you haven't heard by now, the malware exploits a flaw in the Java Virtual Machine, which Oracle pushed a fix for back in February, but Apple didn't patch until a botnet consisting of as many as 650,000 Macs was identified on March 4th. Antivirus maker Kaspersky has confirmed the earlier findings, and released a free tool affected users can run to remove the trojan from their computers. Other than the update already delivered for computers running OS 10.6 and 10.7 Apple recommends users on 10.5 and earlier disable Java in their browser preferences. What isn't mentioned however, is when its fix is incoming or any timetable on its efforts with international ISPs to cut off the IP addresses used by the network. This is not the first time Macs have fallen prey to malware and as their market share grows will likely not be the last, so don't think just opting for OS X is automatically keeping you a step ahead security-wise. Check the links below for more information about what the malware does, and how to get rid of it.

Nokia makes Lumia 900 free to all AT&T customers, now through April 21st

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 06:26 PM PDT

Now through April 21st, any AT&T customer who purchases a Lumia 900 will receive a $100 rebate from Nokia -- effectively making the device free. Ostensibly a gesture of goodwill from the Finnish manufacturer, which confirmed that a small number of early handsets shipped with faulty software that caused memory management issues and eventually data connectivity woes. It insists this problem is now fixed, and that come April 16th, all affected consumers may swap their device at any AT&T store or merely download the update. Previously, AT&T had announced a $100 mail-in rebate for new subscribers that'd purchased the Lumia 900, but thanks to Nokia, it's now effectively free for all. You might wanna jump on this one.

Archos Child Pad arrives at FCC, escapes drool-free

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 06:11 PM PDT

If our eyes don't deceive us, that's the Archos Child Pad that just arrived at the FCC. Now, we know what you're thinking: any proper test of this tablet would require someone gnawing on the corners and drooling on the screen, but c'mon -- this is the FCC we're talking about. Curiously, the test documents reveal support for 802.11n, which comes as a nice surprise, since we'd previously only known of support for 802.11b/g. As you might've expected, WiFi is the only radio in the Child Pad, which means the little one won't be pairing it with any Bluetooth devices or putting the hurt on your data plan any time soon. This rubbery, resistive touch, Ice Cream Sandwich-filled creation was previously announced for $129 with availability in late March. While the Archos folks may have missed that goal, with the FCC's stamp of approval, it appears your tike won't have long to coat the Child Pad in celebratory slobber.

Comcast Xfinity TV iOS app adds integrated DVR manager so you don't miss Deadliest Catch

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 05:04 PM PDT

Comcast's Xfinity TV app for iOS has seen more than a few updates since it launched back in 2010 that added support for video on-demand streaming anywhere, live TV in-home with additional hardware and made various tweaks to the UI. Despite all that, until today's update doing something as doublechecking what was scheduled for recording on your DVR required popping out of the app and signing into a different webpage. The new integrated DVR Manager can be seen above and confirms, yes, that Deadliest Catch is securely in our queue for this evening. We're not sure what's going to happen in the season eight premiere, but we suspect someone is going to worried about whether or not they're catching enough crabs on this trip.

Refreshed Roku HD spotted in stores, drops the 2 but adds some purple flair

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 04:32 PM PDT

That purple-striped Roku HD seen skulking about the FCC last month has now been observed in the wild by our friend Dave Zatz. It's apparently on shelves now, with all the features of the box recently introduced as the Roku 2 HD, but without the 2. As he muses, Roku may be taking a "new iPad" style naming approach to its hardware going forward, a theory supported by the support site listing where it's already elbowed out the old Roku 2 HD. As far as differences, it's mostly the same with the exception of full size composite outputs around that should make it more friendly to HD-less environments, while the Bluetooth (for the optional gaming remote) and microSD slot options have been eliminated. We've heard from Roku that this refreshed model has a slightly larger footprint due to those composite jacks, but will stay at the same price of $59.99.

Kubuntu 12.10 gains Blue Systems as sponsor, Canonical waves farewell

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 04:27 PM PDT

Everyone loves a happy ending, and it's with this in mind that we share the latest round of good news from the Kubuntu team. Starting with version 12.10, the popular KDE variant of Ubuntu will have sponsorship from Blue Systems. Previously, Canonical announced its intention to drop its sponsorship of Kubuntu after the 12.04 LTS, Precise Pangolin release, but later revealed a willingness to let the Kubuntu team seek other sponsors. Fortunately, it's found a good one. Blue Systems has a solid track record in the KDE community and similarly sponsors distributions such as Netrunner and the KDE variant of Linux Mint. Likewise, it's encouraged Kubuntu developers to stay close to their roots and follow the same successful formula as before. The future looks bright for Kubuntu, and it's full of Plasma.

CloudOn bolsters its Office-friendly iPad app with support for Box and Adobe Reader

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 03:47 PM PDT

CloudOn managed to attract a fair bit of attention earlier this year with its cloud-based app that indirectly brought Microsoft Office to the iPad, and it's now back with version 2.0 of said app. That doesn't change a whole lot on the surface (though there are some UI tweaks), but it does add support for Box in addition to Dropbox for storage, as well as support for PDFs, PSDs and other formats handled by Adobe Reader. As before, the app is free, and CloudOn assures folks that it has officially licensed the technology from Microsoft and Adobe.
Show full PR text
CloudOn Lifts the iPad to New Levels of Productivity with Version 2.0 of its Popular App

CloudOn 2.0 now lets iPad users create, edit, share and save Microsoft Office and Adobe files from their Box and Dropbox accounts

Palo Alto, Calif. – April 10, 2012 –– Today CloudOn, a leader in mobile productivity, is announcing the release of CloudOn 2.0, the ultimate productivity workspace, custom built and optimized for the iPad. The cloud-based app, currently enjoyed by nearly one million consumers and professionals across the U.S., Canada and U.K., is now making it even easier to turn the iPad into a true productivity device. By providing access to the full capabilities of Microsoft Office and Adobe reader, integrated with Box and Dropbox, CloudOn users can now easily create, edit, share and save their work using only their iPad.

How it works:

CloudOn operates by using the power of the cloud to connect to Microsoft Office. This allows users to create and access Microsoft Office documents exactly the way they always have, with the same look and functionality. Users have access to all of Microsoft Office features, including tracking changes in Word, manipulating pivot tables in Excel and viewing PowerPoint slideshows in full presentation mode – all from an iPad. Users can also display, edit or create charts, insert formulas, change formatting, spell check, or insert comments into any Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document.

With the release of Version 2.0, CloudOn now gives users the ability to do more with more applications, more cloud services, and the ability to share documents easily.

CloudOn 2.0 features seamless access to content on Box or Dropbox. Users with existing Box or Dropbox accounts can log in right from the app, and then open, create, edit, share and automatically save their documents.

"Over 120,000 businesses and 82% of the Fortune 500 use Box to store, manage and access their business content," said Chris Yeh vice president of Platform at Box. "Our integration with CloudOn is a proven enterprise mobility solution that will enable millions of knowledge workers to be more productive and efficient when working from an iPad."

Version 2.0 also provides Adobe Reader to view PDFs. Everything from simple forms to complex 3-D documents. In addition, users have access to a universal viewer for any file, ranging from raw Photoshop images to everyday image files, including: PNG, JPEG and GIF.

The latest version also includes fast and easy email integration that lets users open and send emails along with attachments with a single tap and without ever leaving the app.

This is CloudOn's first official announcement in North America since its early January launch, where it skyrocketed to the no.1 free iPad app in the AppStore within hours of its release. CloudOn has consistently been a top-rated and top-downloaded productivity application in the U.S., Canadian and U.K. AppStores. With close to one million downloads in three short months, CloudOn has rapidly soared to a leadership position within the mobile productivity space.

"We believe the CloudOn workspace is revolutionizing the world of mobile productivity," said Milind Gadekar, CEO and founder of CloudOn. "The initial positive response validates the progress we've made so far. And this launch makes it even easier for our users to get to their information, use familiar applications and share their work."

CloudOn 2.0 is available now for download in the U.S., Canada and U.K. and App Stores: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cloudon/id474025452

CloudOn is a partner of Microsoft and Adobe has legitimately licensed the technology used to deliver the Microsoft Office and Adobe components of its service. For more information, visit http://help.cloudon.com/knowledgebase/articles/57737-is-cloudon-legal-

To learn more about CloudOn, visit: www.cloudon.com

About CloudOn:
CloudOn is Silicon Valley based startup focused on mobile productivity. Its flagship product delivers full Microsoft Office capabilities with secure third party storage integration to the iPad making it easier than ever to create, edit, share and save the documents you need most while on the go. For more information visit: www.CloudOn.com, or follow us on Twitter @cloudoninc

Adidas debuting miCoach tracking technology in this year's MLS All-Star Game (video)

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 03:20 PM PDT

While it's been a few months since Adidas launched those intelligent F50 miCoach cleats, it finally looks as if the German outfit's ready to test the tech on the football pitch. Adidas announced earlier today that its adizeros will be a part of the "world's first smart soccer match," during the MLS All-Star Game on July 25th in Philadelphia. With the help of the miCoach's tracking system, coaches are able to measure a player's speed and acceleration, how much ground was covered, the intensity of play, as well as spotting weaknesses and strengths. Naturally, the end results can then be analyzed on a computer or directly from an application on one of Apple's slates. Adidas says this is only the beginning, as it plans to bring the technology -- detailed in video form just after the break -- to other leagues around the world in the near future.

Engadget HD Podcast 294 - 04.10.2012

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 03:06 PM PDT

This week on the Engadget HD podcast it's not all about Netflix -- it just seems that way. The streaming company has new apps out on the Xbox 360 and coming to TiVo, but we're also going to be busy talking about surround sound and possible reasons why more people don't use it. Other streaming services were busy too, with Comcast opening up HBO Go on the Xbox 360, Amazon on the PS3 and Universal Studios in Apple's iCloud. Later on we'll check out a few new receivers and discuss what we'll be watching this week.

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Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Trent Wolbe

00:18:43 - Netflix for Xbox 360 updates with better contrast and episode navigation
00:27:12 - Netflix explains its recommendation system
00:31:03 - Comcast confirms full HBO Go access on Xbox 360 coming next week
00:34:15 - TiVo Premiere updates coming with new Netflix and YouTube apps; Bay Area gets Comcast VOD
00:36:30 - Amazon Instant Video app for the PS3 brings both Prime subscriptions and VOD along
00:39:50 - Universal Studios' films now available on iCloud, Fox still grounded
00:41:57 - Paramount flicks are coming to YouTube and Google Play despite Viacom lawsuit
00:45:25 - London 2012 Olympics to get live 3D coverage from Eurosport and Sky 3D
00:55:08 - Voice Control for LG Smart TVs to roll out by end of April, Magic Remotes to require spit guards
01:07:38 - Pioneer adds two new Elite receivers to its 2012 lineup
01:12:28 - Yamaha RX-V573 and RX-V473 receivers include AirPlay integration, 4K passthrough
01:15:25 - Must See HDTV (April 9th - April 15th)

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Sprint website hints at Samsung Galaxy Note for the Now Network

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 02:44 PM PDT

Well, color us tickled, but upon our recent visit to Sprint's website, we found a curious, unbranded device that looks awfully similar to Samsung's Galaxy Note. Might this fantastic phablet be the next big thing to hit the Now Network, or is it merely the whim of a careless graphic designer? Only time will tell, but with Sprint's recent push for LTE handsets, it seems unlikely that -- if this phone were to arrive -- it'd feature Samsung's mighty Exynos processor that we love so dearly.

Micron ships RealSSD C400 mSATA SSD into slender Ultrabooks

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 02:27 PM PDT

micron crucial realssd msata c400The only problem with mobile gizmos getting even more mobile? The cost of those bantam components squeezed within 'em. That said, at least we have the option to trim a few more millimeters from the chassis of our next-generation laptops, as Micron has announced a new mSATA solid state drive that's engineered specifically for the increasingly crowded Ultrabook market. The RealSSD C400 emanates realness, boasting a form factor that's around the size of a business card and arriving with capacities ranging from 32GB to 256GB with a SATA 6Gbps interface. Furthermore, Micron has tapped its 25 nanometer process technology to craft these things, with OEMs having access to the first lot; upgraders can look forward to a Crucial-branded version later this year, but who knows how much you'll have to pay.

Update: Looks like our pals at Storage Review have a full review up, replete with more benchmarks and charts than you could shake a 3- x 5cm stick at.
Show full PR text
Micron Announces mSATA Solid-State Drive for Ultrathin Laptops

Micron's RealSSD(TM) C400 mSATA SSD Provides High Performance for Ultraportable Computing

BOISE, Idaho, April 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq:MU), one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced a new solid-state drive (SSD) that broadens Micron's client product portfolio to serve the rapidly emerging Ultrabook™ category. The newly announced drive is based on the proven architecture of Micron's popular RealSSD™ C400 drives, providing the same high performance and reliability.

The C400 mSATA drive is designed to work in ultrathin, high-performance SSD-based systems and can also act as a cache drive in dual-drive systems. SSD-caching systems have both a hard-disk drive and a low-capacity SSD. These systems use software to automatically identify the most frequently used files and programs and then access those files from the SSD, providing greater performance than a hard-disk drive, but at a lower price point than a stand-alone SSD.

The mSATA form factor is an emerging standard that allows ultrathin notebook manufacturers to integrate a high-capacity SSD in a space that is about one-third of the size of a standard business card (3cm x 5cm). That tiny footprint, coupled with the C400's inherent power savings, light weight, and durability, make this drive ideal for new mobile designs.

"Efficient memory and storage are key components to portable computing," said Justin Sykes, Micron's general manager of client SSD solutions. "Our new mSATA delivers on the true promise of SSD technology – high-performance storage in a tiny, low-power package. Breaking away from the constraints of enclosures meant for hard drives is a great step toward enabling truly mobile computing platforms."

The RealSSD C400 mSATA SSD ships in capacities ranging from 32 gigabytes (GB) to 256GB with a SATA 6 gigabits per second (Gb/s) interface for the high data throughput that is ideal for the "instant on" responsiveness demanded by Ultrabook systems. The drive's focused high performance[1], low power consumption and caseless design enable better computing experiences in ultrathin form factors. Additionally, the established design leverages Micron's proven 25 nanometer (nm) MLC NAND Flash and manufacturing and testing capabilities.

The drive is currently in production and is available through Micron's extensive distribution network. A Crucial-branded version will be available to consumers this calendar quarter through select global channel partners and at www.crucial.com.

Ergo GoTab Epic hands-on (video)

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 01:55 PM PDT

There's a new entrant in the cut-throat world of British budget tablet makers: Birmingham-based Ergo Electronics. It previewed its new GoTab line of Ice Cream Sandwich-powered slates and e-readers at this year's Gadget Show Live, but our interest was captivated by the most premium model: the GoTab Epic GTB9040. Interested in our impressions? Course you are, that's why you're going to read more after the break.
Ergo GoTab Epic - Hands On
Ergo GoTab Epic - Hands On

It's packing a single-core 1.2GHz AllWinner 10 (budget ARM Cortex A8) CPU, 8GB on-board storage and 1GB of DDR3 RAM. Most striking is its display: a 9.7-inch capacitive multitouch IPS panel with a resolution of 1024 x 768 that's claimed to be the same as in the iPad 2, but we'll reserve judgment until we've spent a little more time with it. It's also a big fan of fingerprints, we were only able to shoot it once we'd given it a good buffing with both a t-shirt and a lint-free cloth. There's the usual array of mini USB, microSD card slot (yup, up to 32GB) and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi that we expect of any device in this class, you'll also find a front-facing VGA camera for quick and dirty Skype sessions.

We were surprised at how freakishly slender it is, that squared-off frame may not be the most hand-friendly shape when clutched for long periods, but it was a breeze to fling around when we used it. Build quality felt sturdy, albeit the buttons were small enough that we had to resort to fingernail pressing since we couldn't get our digits to play nicely. Performance was very good too, there wasn't any real lag when cycling through the menus or opening up apps, excellent for a low-cost device like this. Ergo's USP is that it's launching GoReader, a proprietary e-book store that'll arrive properly on the 16th of this month. It'll be packed to the gills with copyright-free titles that have been given a lick of paint to appeal to youngsters as the company goes after the education market with a "Read a Day" initiative. The whole range will go on sale from mid May, with the Epic retailing for £180 ($285).

James Trew contributed to this report.



Show full PR text
GoTab Launches at Gadget Show Live

APRIL 10TH - The all new GoTab range has been unveiled at the Gadget Show live today at the NEC Birmingham. The tablets, manufactured by UK company Ergo Electronics, are designed to bring the latest Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system to the British Public. Packed full of the latest features and technology the tablets give the feel and experience of a market leading tablet, but for only a fraction of the price.

The GoTab family features two ranges, the 7″ and 10″ GoTabs (16:9 widescreen), and the 8″ and 9.7″ GoTab Epics (4:3 screen). The option of screen format gives users the best of both worlds and means there is a GoTab for everyone. Whether you want a small and portable tablet for when you're on the move, a widescreen tablet for watching movies, or a super size and high resolution IPS 'epic' screen for surfing the web and playing apps, there's a GoTab thats suited perfectly to you. All GoTabs have a capacitive multi-touch screen that means you can browse the interface with a flick of your fingertips, play multi-touch apps and pinch to zoom on the net.

With Android 4 you can experience one of the world's most exciting ways to browse the internet, email, chat, play, read and watch. GoTab has access to the Google Play Store (formerly Android Market) so you can search and download up to 400,000 apps for work, rest and play. With built in multi-tasking you can keep on top of work, home and your social life.

Priced from only £79.99 GoTabs are available to view now at the Gadget Show Live, and available to buy from April 16th.

Netflix for Android updated with fresher UI for volume controls, other 'stability improvements'

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 01:24 PM PDT

Heads-up, Android users -- Netflix has just issued a revised build of its app on the aforementioned platform, and while the changelog here is but three points long, they seem to be somewhat significant. For starters, there's a polished user interface, particularly dealing with the volume control function, allowing users to more easily tweak levels as well as fast-forward / rewind. There are also a number of unspecified stability improvements and bug fixes, with some Motorola tablet owners reporting far smoother streaming. Updated it yourself? Let us know how it's going in comments below (and hit the source for a link to Google Play).

Notion Ink Adam 2 won't have HD screen due to battery constraints

Posted: 10 Apr 2012 01:13 PM PDT

Notion Ink has already revealed a few of the features its forthcoming Adam 2 tablet will have, and it's now also confirmed something it won't have: an HD (or higher res) screen like some of its competitors. In a post on the Designing Adam 2 blog, Notion Ink's Rohan Shravan explained that the company did have the option of a 10-inch 1920 x 1200 display, but that would come either with a significant hit to battery life or some other compromises the company wasn't willing to make (weight, size, charging time, etc). There's still no word on what resolution the Adam 2's screen will have. Shravan did add that a higher resolution screen is on the company's roadmap, but that will apparently have to wait for some battery improvements that don't also require a bigger battery.
at 11:43 AM

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