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- Seraku's Android mirror lets you reflect on your operating system
- ATD: Yahoo's CEO Scott Thompson to step down amidst degree scandal
- WSJ: LightSquared 'preparing' for bankruptcy protection filing, final decision coming tomorrow
- Ferrari chairman reveals hybrid Enzo will come this year
- NEC tablet with GSM and HSPA breaks cover at the FCC
- Panasonic racks up a record loss for 2012, looks forward to profits and a partner for OLED TVs
- Arduino mechs learn RobotC, plot assimilation with Lego Mindstorms
- Fry's stocks unlocked Nokia N9, is slightly misinformed about its specs
- Adobe changes tune on CS5 updates, won't seek paid CS6 upgrade to patch vulnerabilities
- Ask Engadget: best smartphone for the over fifties?
- Mobile Miscellany: week of May 7th, 2012
- MIPS unveils new Aptiv mobile chip design, vows more speed in a tiny space
- Apple's iPad WiFi + 4G renamed 'iPad WiFi + Cellular' across many of its stores
- NVIDIA confirms no 'Project Grey' until 2013, Tegra 3 LTE later this year
| Seraku's Android mirror lets you reflect on your operating system Posted: 13 May 2012 10:41 AM PDT
Phones, watches, TVs and in-car entertainment. Android has been put to work in many corners of our technological world. Now, it's reached another, less expected one -- mirrors. The Verge spotted |
| ATD: Yahoo's CEO Scott Thompson to step down amidst degree scandal Posted: 13 May 2012 09:03 AM PDT
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| WSJ: LightSquared 'preparing' for bankruptcy protection filing, final decision coming tomorrow Posted: 13 May 2012 08:11 AM PDT
Can't say it's striking us as any sort of surprise, but the seemingly destined-to-fail LightSquared just might be out of options. After getting a high-five from Sprint and plenty of attention for its initiatives in bringing yet another wireless option to America, those blasted GPS interference issues (or "supposed" issues, depending on who you ask) eventually became too much to overcome. According to a breaking report out of The Wall Street Journal, Philip Falcone's venture is seriously teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, as "negotiations with lenders to avoid a potential default faltered," according to the ever-present "people familiar with the matter." Purportedly, the two sides have until 5PM tomorrow to strike a deal that'll keep the firm out of bankruptcy court (if you'll recall, it owes over $1.6 billion dollars to various entities), but given just how far apart these sides remain, its fate seems all but sealed. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, but don't go placing bets on yet another debt-term violation waiver. |
| Ferrari chairman reveals hybrid Enzo will come this year Posted: 13 May 2012 08:07 AM PDT
We've seen both the fast, and the furious, when it comes to hybrid cars -- but we've yet to see a battery-packing Ferrari roll out of concept, and onto the forecourt. Well, according to Luca di Montezemolo -- the firm's chairman -- we'll finally be able to strike the latter off the list as soon as this year. A limited special edition Enzo was announced at the tail end of the supercar manufacturer's recent financial report. No further details at this time, but the optimistic among you might want to start getting trade-in quotes on that Prius now. Catch the full report is after the break. Very positive Ferrari first quarter growth - Revenues of 556 Million Euro (+13.2%) Excellent results from the USA (+16%), United Kingdom (+31%), Germany (+24%) and Middle East (+23%) Maranello, 10th May 2012 – The Board of Directors of Ferrari S.p.A. met today under the chairmanship of Luca di Montezemolo to examine the company's accounts for the first quarter of 2012. On March 31st, Ferrari recorded a string of excellent results: revenues rose to 556.1 million euro (+13.2 per cent) and 1,733 cars were delivered to the dealership network, an increase of 11.5 per cent on the same period last year. These results are the fruit of the success of the 12-cylinder FF and the continuing popularity of the 8-cylinder models, most notably the Ferrari California, which is the company's best-selling GT, and the coupé and spider versions of the 458 which top the sports car segment. One hundred per cent of Ferraris are personalised by their owners who, since the start of 2012, have also been able to avail of the innovative Tailor Made programme, which allows each client to tailor their own bespoke car using an extensive variety of unique and exclusive materials, colours and finishes, with the assistance of a specialist team. The F12berlinetta, the most powerful and high performance Prancing Horse car ever built and the first in a new generation of V12s, made no contribution to these results as deliveries will not commence until the second part of the year. Trading profit grew by 13.4 per cent to 60.5 million euro, while net profits rose by 17.2 per cent (42.1 million euro). Ferrari's industrial net cash position on March 31st was the strongest in its history at 860 million euro. This was achieved despite keeping product investment extremely high and thanks to a net cash flow for the first quarter of 152 million euro. The one-make series of the Prancing Horse, the Ferrari Challenge, is also proving to be very successful with the 2012 racing season starting with 100 458 Challenge cars on the tracks in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. In terms of sales, the US remains Ferrari's most important market recording growth of 16 per cent even after the excellent figures recorded in 2011. Sales in Europe were also very positive with excellent results in the United Kingdom (+31 per cent, 177 cars delivered) and in Germany (up 24 per cent). Italy is the exception to this trend with sales of 121 cars, down 65 compared to the first quarter 2011 as a result of the economic situation and the local government's recent financial initiatives. In the Far East, after a record 2011, the Greater China market (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) continued to grow with 154 cars delivered in the first quarter. On May 18th, a major new Ferrari exhibition will open at the Shanghai Expo in China where a 1,000 square metre space will host some of our most iconic road models as well as Formula 1 cars. The display will also feature simulators and interactive points where visitors can learn about Ferrari's history and the Maranello campus. The Middle East also delivered extremely significant results with sales this first quarter up by 23 per cent and 81 cars delivered. "After an extraordinary 2011, starting the year with all the economic indicators on the rise is very satisfying indeed," declared Ferrari's Chairman, Luca di Montezemolo. "We have a complete new model range brimming with technological innovations, and which deliver significant reductions in fuel consumption and emissions, down by 30 per cent on average." He continued: "At the end of the year, we'll also be unveiling the new Enzo, a limited series model and our first ever hybrid car." Brand activities (retail, wholesale, licensing and e-commerce) are up by 10 per cent overall: there are now 50 Ferrari Stores worldwide, including a new store in Madrid which opens officially at the end of May. Ferrari also retains its leadership in online activities with over 8 million friends on Facebook and almost one million on Google +. |
| NEC tablet with GSM and HSPA breaks cover at the FCC Posted: 13 May 2012 06:09 AM PDT
Regular readers will know that the FCC is a bit of a virtual whistle-blower, alerting tech-hungry Americans to when new goodies might soon be landing on their shores. Other times it coughs up the odd thing we weren't even waiting for. Today's offering appears to be a 3G tablet from NEC. There's little in the way of specification, or even pictures, but we do know it's sporting GSM and HSPA radios along with the standard WiFi. The device measures 222.6 mm across, which strongly points to a display somewhere in the 7-inch region. The KMP7R4D1-1A model number isn't ringing any bells right now, but we do remember a few Japanese models that bear a passing resemblance not that long ago. |
| Panasonic racks up a record loss for 2012, looks forward to profits and a partner for OLED TVs Posted: 13 May 2012 03:57 AM PDT
Panasonic's yearly earnings are in and the red ink added up to a record $9.7 billion net loss for 2011. Number one on incoming president Kazuhiro Tsuga's list is turning around the company's TV division, where its heavy investments in both plasma and LCD manufacturing resulted in heavy losses. Currently the company expects a better result in both next year after 2011's write downs and restructuring, although its projections see total sales falling from 17.3 million last year to 15.5 million. Panasonic is expected to follow Samsung and LG into large screen OLED HDTV production and outgoing prez Fumio Ohtsubo mentioned it would likely look for a partner there. Sumitomo has been rumored as a potential ally in the past, though a preference for run-flat tires could not be confirmed at press time. |
| Arduino mechs learn RobotC, plot assimilation with Lego Mindstorms Posted: 13 May 2012 01:41 AM PDT
Arduino boards have smoothed the creation of lots of eccentric thingamajigs, but robotics and controllers are still not for the faint of heart. Luckily, RoboMatter is coming to the rescue of would-be roboticists with a public beta version of its C-based RobotC language for Arduino. Joining Lego Mindstorm and other bots, Arduino will get RobotC's straightforward sensor and motor controls, along with a debugger and sample program library, while still keeping its native Wiring language. So, if you want to be a Kickstarter magnate , or just out-weird everyone else, rolling your own droid is now a bit easier. |
| Fry's stocks unlocked Nokia N9, is slightly misinformed about its specs Posted: 12 May 2012 11:16 PM PDT
Sure, Nokia's Lumia 900 and 808 PureView may have garnered much of the spotlight lately, but lest we forgot about its flagship MeeGo handset, the N9. If you've been anxiously hoping to somehow score this slab of polycarbonate unlocked in the US sans gray-market importers, apparently Fry's Electronics has you covered. Phone News spotted a listing for the phone in the store's latest weekly ad -- although upon closer inspection, it appears that the retailer isn't too sure about its actual specs. Aside from describing the 3.9-inch slab of polycarbonate as a 4.3-inch device, it's also flubbed on the OS, calling it "Mego." Perhaps the most interesting error, however, is that the handset's ClearBlack AMOLED display is listed as Super AMOLED -- Samsung's competing technology. Assuming these are merely errors, you'll be able to pick one up for a spendy $600. Hit up the source link below to view the full ad. |
| Adobe changes tune on CS5 updates, won't seek paid CS6 upgrade to patch vulnerabilities Posted: 12 May 2012 08:59 PM PDT
Things have gotten interesting in the world of CS updates. Recently, Computerworld reported that Adobe had informed folks using an older version of its famed Creative Suite -- CS5 and CS5.5, to be exact -- they'd have to shell out the CS6 upgrade fee in order to get a fix for some recently discovered bugs. Apparently, Adobe took notice to its customers' dissatisfaction and updated its initial blog post with a changed tune, stating, "We are in the process of resolving these vulnerabilities in Adobe Photoshop CS5.x, and will update this Security Bulletin once the patch is available." The same is true for both Illustrator and Flash. This kerfuffle started after Adobe handed out warnings for eight "critical" vulnerabilities found in certain versions of the three applications -- some of which are said to be exploitable and could potentially be used to "take control of the affected system." We'll see how it all plays out over the upcoming days, but in the meantime hit the links below to see if you need to take any action. James Trew and Joe Pollicino contributed to this post. |
| Ask Engadget: best smartphone for the over fifties? Posted: 12 May 2012 07:47 PM PDT
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from is from Daniel (no relation), who wants to upgrade his parents cellphones. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
We're all getting older, so let's try to work out a great handset for those who need a little help. We speak from personal experience when we say it's probably not going to be the Samsung Galaxy Y -- trust us. If you think you've got a better idea, throw it down in the comments below. |
| Mobile Miscellany: week of May 7th, 2012 Posted: 12 May 2012 05:40 PM PDT
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, Sprint reassured us with optimism for Windows Phone 8, and T-Mobile's CEO found a new partner to continue the fight against Verizon's AWS acquisition. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of May 7th, 2012. T-Mobile bands together with RCA to prevent Verizon's AWS acquisition T-Mobile will join forces with the Rural Cellular Association to further make a case against the acquisition of AWS spectrum by Verizon Wireless from a group of cable companies. While Sprint is a member of the RCA, it has yet to declare support for either side in the battle. T-Mobile's CEO, Philipp Humm, has previously stated that Verizon's proposal to shed Blocks A and B of the 700MHz spectrum is a poor concession, although US Cellular recently expressed its interest in this portion of the airwaves. [AllThingsD, Phone Scoop] Sprint exec suggests we'll see a push for Windows Phone 8 Contrary to Sprint's handset lineup, it seems the company isn't quite ready to give up on Windows Phone. Like Verizon, which previously stated its intention to create a third smartphone ecosystem, an executive of the Now Network, David Owens, now claims that the carrier is "still bullish on Apollo." While Owens offered little in terms of hardware or timelines, it seems a safe bet that we'll learn more as Windows Phone 8 nears its debut. [PCMag] Huawei brings Ascend Y100 to O2 as a carrier exclusive Don't expect any major thrills from this one, but Huawei has a new smartphone on the market that should appeal to the prepaid segment of O2's customer base. The handset will be available on June 1st for just £79.99, which includes Android 2.3, a 2.8-inch display and a 2 megapixel camera. [Pocket Lint] ZTE Nova 4.0 V8000 possibly headed to Cricket Rumors from the grapevine of CTIA suggest that Huawei's Mercury may find a competitor at Cricket. The crew at Phone Arena happened to snag some time with the handset, which features a Qualcomm MSM8655 SoC with a 1.4GHz CPU, a 4-inch WVGA display and, for the moment, stock Android 4.0. The phone also includes an 8 megapixel AF camera with LED flash, 1GB of RAM and a 1,900mAh battery. [Phone Arena] Windows Phone "Tango" refresh gets a hands-on video
It's far from the world of Apollo, but the folks at WPCentral have managed to sneak a dance with the Windows Phone update commonly known as Tango. Users will find new settings for call forwarding, call waiting, SMS / MMS delivery confirmation and internet sharing. Feel free to check out the video tour of what's to come. [WPCentral] Other random tidbits
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| MIPS unveils new Aptiv mobile chip design, vows more speed in a tiny space Posted: 12 May 2012 04:29 PM PDT
MIPS has only had a slight amount of traction in smartphones and tablets given that its best friend is Ainovo. It might get a better footing in an ARM-dominated world with a new range of processors in the Aptiv line. The highest-end chip of the bunch, the ProAptiv, is reportedly much smaller than its ARM opponents across the aisle while managing the same speed, goosing the floating-point math, memory addressing and multi-core support to where it's as much as 75 percent faster over the previous generation. That's good news for mobile devices and set-top boxes where space is tight. MIPS isn't leaving embedded gear like 4G LTE modems alone, either, as the mid-size InterAptiv and tiny MicroAptiv are getting similar improvements. If you're eager to get cracking on a processor of your own, you can license MIPS' new work right away -- and us plebeians who simply buy the devices can expect Aptiv to be ready for gadget use by the middle of the year. MIPS Technologies Introduces New Aptiv™ Generation of Microprocessor Cores MIPS Raises the Performance Bar with New SUNNYVALE, Calif. - May 10, 2012 - News Highlights: * High-performance proAptiv™ core achieves the highest CoreMark/MHz score reported for any licensable IP core, together with leading silicon efficiency * Multi-threaded interAptiv™ core delivers leading performance efficiency, achieving higher CoreMark/MHz than competing cores in similar die area * Highly-efficient microAptiv™ core achieves highest CoreMark/MHz score among microcontroller-class cores; adds DSP acceleration and security * Several lead licensees already signed for AptivTM cores MIPS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: MIPS), a leading provider of industry-standard processor architectures and cores for home entertainment, networking, mobile and embedded applications, today introduced a new generation of microprocessor cores. The Aptiv Generation cores, including the proAptiv, interAptiv and microAptiv families, offer three distinct performance levels for applications across MIPS' target segments. All based on the MIPS32® Release 3 architecture, the products are targeted to build on MIPS' leadership position in home entertainment, strengthen its position in networking, extend the company's offering in the high-volume embedded systems segment, and provide a highly-competitive alternative for mobile system development. For mobile devices, the Aptiv Generation offers top-end multicore performance for applications processing in products including tablets and smartphones, efficient multi-threading technology for applications such as baseband processing, and entry-level performance for embedded control and applications such as touchscreen controllers, SIM/security and GPS. proAptiv Family Key Features * Leading high-end CPU performance efficiency delivering over 4.4 CoreMark/MHz and * Ideal for applications processing in connected consumer electronics such as high-end mobile devices and "smart" home entertainment products, and control plane processing in networking applications * Efficient top-end performance minimizes the need for exotic power management schemes such as "big.LITTLE" in many mobile applications * 60-75% higher performance on CoreMark and DMIPS scores compared to MIPS32 74K™/1074K™ superscalar single/multicore products * Highly-scalable solution leveraging up to six cores connected in a multi-core Coherent Processing System (CPS) Major architectural features and enhancements: * High-performance multi-issue, deeply out-of-order (OoO) architecture with state-of-the-art branch prediction * New higher-performance floating point unit (FPU) with higher synthesizable frequency for 1:1 clock with core and native double-precision execution * Single-core and multi-core (up to six core) configurations * Performance-enhanced, tightly-integrated second generation Coherence Manager and L2 cache controller with lower total latency * MIPS Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Application Specific Extension (ASE) v2 * Enhanced Virtual Address (EVA) for efficient 32-bit address map utilization to reach 3GB+ user space interAptiv Family Key Features * The interAptiv core leverages a balanced nine-stage pipeline with multi-threading to deliver leading performance efficiency, achieving greater than 50% more CoreMark/MHz than competing cores in similar die area1,2 * Ideal for highly-parallel applications requiring cost and power optimization, such as smart gateways, baseband processing in LTE user equipment and small cells, SSD controllers and automotive equipment * Highly-scalable solution leveraging one or more threads per core, and up to four cores connected in a multi-core Coherent Processing System (CPS) Features and enhancements * Multi-threaded pipeline implements dual virtual processors, appearing as two complete CPUs to an SMP Linux operating system * Hardware Quality of Service (QoS), thread management support and inter-thread communication enable optimal control for real-time applications * Performance-enhanced, tightly-integrated second generation Coherence Manager and L2 cache controller with lower total latency * Support for up to two I/O coherency units * Core and CPS-level power management features * Error Checking and Correction (ECC) support in L1 data cache, L2 cache and data SPRAM * Enhanced Virtual Address (EVA) for efficient 32-bit address map utilization to reach 3GB+ user space * Optional floating point unit microAptiv Family Key Features * Low-power, compact, real-time embedded processor core with integrated standard I/O interfaces, building on popular MIPS32 M14KTM core family with microMIPSTM code compression instruction set architecture * Integrates DSP and SIMD functionality to address signal processing requirements for a wide range of embedded segments including industrial control, smart meters, automotive and wired/wireless communications * Leverages highly-efficient 5-stage pipeline to achieve 3.09 CoreMark/MHz and 1.57 DMIPS/MHz1 in microMIPS mode, with 40% and 25% higher performance, respectively, compared to competition2 * Compared to previous generation MIPS cores and competitive cores, offers greater range of design features for both control and DSP operations * New memory protection unit for enhanced program code and data security, microMIPS-only execution mode, secure debug and 2-wire cJTAG support |
| Apple's iPad WiFi + 4G renamed 'iPad WiFi + Cellular' across many of its stores Posted: 12 May 2012 02:25 PM PDT
Remember Apple's new iPad WiFi + 4G? Well, forget that moniker, as this variant of the company's latest slate has been quietly re-dubbed as the iPad WiFi + Cellular. As noticed by 9to5Mac, the change occurred within the last "24-48 hours" across many of Apple's region-specific webstores (update: and retail locations), including (but not limited to) those for the US, UK, Australia, Canada and various countries in Asia. If you'll recall, in many regions the best you'll get out of the slate is HSPA-connectivity, even though it's also equipped for LTE -- something that Apple itself had considered good enough to market it as 4G despite offering refunds to customers in Australia who (like many others) couldn't officially partake in its LTE. Interestingly, 9to5Mac also notes that a similar change hasn't made its way over to the iPad 2, which still has its cellular-equipped variant named, iPad 2 WiFi + 3G. We've reached out to Apple for comment, but the meantime, feel free to hit up the source links below for more insight. |
| NVIDIA confirms no 'Project Grey' until 2013, Tegra 3 LTE later this year Posted: 12 May 2012 12:02 PM PDT
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