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Engadget News |
- Toshiba Excite 7.7 review
- X-37B finally touches down, completing its not-so-secret classified mission (video)
- InterDigital sells nearly 2,000 wireless patents to Intel, pockets $375 million
- Celestica phases out BlackBerry-related production for RIM
- China conducts its first crewed spaceship docking, gives southeast Asia its place in space
- MacBook Air review (13-inch, mid 2012)
- Tesla Roadster driver now halfway around the world, catching up with Citroen team (video)
- Engadget Giveaway: win a new iPad (32GB with AT&T), courtesy of Rebtel!
- Samsung Galaxy S III gets enterprise-friendly version in the US, wears a Pebble Blue business suit
- Toughbook goes Ivy Bridge with 10-inch magnesium CF-19
- Barnes & Noble reportedly 'not involved' in tonight's big Microsoft event (Update: confirmed)
- CyanogenMod nightlies reach Samsung Galaxy S III, Nature UX critics unite
- Sharp teams up with design company for new Feel UX Android skin (video)
- Nissan says Leaf charger will start powering homes in July, details new battery (video)
- Onkyo mid-range networking home theatres flaunt 4K image, multi-source PIP
- iPad Smart Case hands-on
- Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar supertrees, pee-powered plasma and a bug-eyed mantis shrimp with a serious right hook
- Google reveals government censorship requests are on the rise
- Android apps that use power control APIs are often 'battery killers,' oh the irony
- Linus Torvalds: 'NVIDIA is the worst we've ever dealt with' (video)
- BMW's i Pedelec hitches lift (and top-up) from plug-in i3 electric car
- Audi's e-Tron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time
- Samsung's new CEO promises 'particular focus' on software, UI and design
- LG Optimus L5 to complete the L-style ensemble later this month
- ArduSat wants to put Arduino satellite, your experiments into orbit
- NNSA Sequoia supercomputer takes worlds fastest title, prevents nuclear testing
- Mozilla's 'Junior' iPad browser prototype keeps it simple
- Verizon intros FiOS Quantum, officially priced up to 300Mbps
- How would you change the Orbotix Sphero?
- Refresh Roundup: week of June 11th, 2012
- Microsoft's rumored tablet may be a Barnes & Noble collaboration with Xbox Live video streaming
- Switched On: Going Thermonuclear
- Engadget Mobile Podcast 142 - 06.17.2012
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT More Info In its sophomore attempt at cranking out Android tablets, Toshiba has unleashed the Excite series, a trifecta of thin tablet terror, upon Terran territory. The tiniest of the Thrive-topping trio is the Tegra 3-toting Excite 7.7, a close competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7. It's portable, sports a gorgeous AMOLED display and packs plenty of processing power. Unfortunately for consumers, there aren't too many tablets this small with this nice a display, which means it'll be much easier for Toshiba to be noticed. Hardware The Excite series offers improvements over last year's Thrives in componentry, no doubt, but there's no area where this is more evident than in the new tablets' design. Toshiba's goal here was to make its latest slabs more attractive than its predecessors, and we'd say the Japanese manufacturer succeeded in its quest. All three -- the 13-inch, 10-inch and 7.7-inch models -- are nearly identical in shape, material and build, likely in effort to maintain a brand identity. The back of the Excite offers a minimalist design consisting of two different shades of grey: the dimpled material occupies most of the rear, while the lighter-shaded aluminum sits on the right side of the back and houses the camera and LED flash. We're happy that the tablet's thinness is the same from edge to edge and humps are nowhere to be found on the device.
Software Much to our delight, the Excite 7.7 ships with Android 4.0.3, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich -- and a very lightly-skinned version at that. While there is the typical smattering of manufacturer customizations and pre-loaded apps, it ends up staying true to the pure vanilla user experience. This makes for glad tidings if you aren't a TouchWiz fan: which will be a key differentiator for the Excite over the Galaxy Tab. Face unlock isn't included, however -- we don't use this low-security feature on a regular basis, but we imagine a few people who like to show off the feature at parties will be disappointed that it's missing. Sorry, you'll have to find some other way of impressing your friends -- might we suggest telling jokes? Camera The Excite's rear camera is definitely worth writing home about, but only to warn your family about how bad it is. We seldom put much faith in images captured by tablets, since many manufacturers seem to throw them in as a last-minute consideration instead of focusing on quality, but the shooter on the Excite widely misses the mark. By the numbers, it uses a 5-megapixel sensor, and its performance lends credence to the "megapixels aren't everything" argument -- especially since the Galaxy Tab 7.7's 3.2-megapixel cam took better images. As you can imagine, low-light performance isn't any sort of improvement over your overall memory-documenting experience. Though the camera offers a Night Scene, don't expect to capture much errant background light. Toshiba has thrown in an LED flash, which helps capture objects in the dark to a small extent, but it's pretty weak in comparison to most LEDs we've reviewed in the past. Video capture on the Excite 7.7 allows for 720p HD resolution, but prepare to be disappointed with the results. While footage was fluid enough for our satisfaction and the mic picked up our voice well enough, the videos we took were void of detail and lacked any amount of sharpness. Autofocus isn't available in this mode either. Watching the movies played back had us wondering if we actually had the camcorder on the 720p setting. Performance and battery life The Toshiba Excite 7.7 is no weakling when it comes to computing power and graphics performance, thanks to its 1.3GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset with GeForce GPU (the same chip you'll find in the ASUS Transformer Prime). In most circumstances, the processor is fast, responsive and smooth. Multitasking is a breeze: we were able to fly through several apps with only the occasional hiccup. We noticed that the tablet had a few struggles trying to load websites in a timely manner, and when scrolling up and down the pages, we would experience a short, one-second delay in reaction time.
Earlier we mentioned that how satisfied we were with the video playback. It's a shame, then, that the audio didn't meet the same level of quality. The tablet, which features two speakers on the bottom edge, is reinforced with the SRS Premium Voice Pro Suite and other Toshiba sound enhancements. We discovered that these augmentations to the device's sound profiles make for a decent headphone listening experience, but don't do anything to help the awfully quiet external speakers. Attempting to watch a Netflix movie, for instance, was a frustrating scenario: within the first minute we found ourselves trying to crank up the volume even though it was, in fact, already bumped up to the maximum setting. The Excite brandishes a 15Wh battery, which seems rather insignificant when compared to the ASUS Transformer Prime's 22Wh juicepack. Don't forget, though, that the latter device contends with more screen real estate and (in some models) HSPA+ radios, whereas the Excite we tested is WiFi-only. As a result, Toshiba is able to offer more bang for your battery buck: it churned out 10 hours and 34 minutes in our video rundown test, which consists of running a video on an endless loop at 50 percent brightness, WiFi turned on and regular push notifications on. If you're using your tablet for consuming content (i.e., surfing the web, playing games and checking your email and social networks regularly), you'll easily get between a day and a half and two days. As usual, your mileage will vary based on factors like screen brightness and how often you play games. Here's how the Excite compares with several other tablets we've reviewed.
Wrap-up It's great to see manufacturers learn from the past, and Toshiba has certainly done just that with the Excite. It's a definite win over the first-gen Thrives in that it's thinner, lighter, more powerful and just plain better-looking, to boot. The slate will also be a good fit for mobile gaming junkies who don't want to lug around a 10-incher on the bus, train or any other form of travel. But with Tegra 3 comes a price: $500 for 16GB and $580 for 32GB may not appeal to most casual tableteurs. Overall, the Excite 7.7 may be worth the cost for a beautiful display in a portable form factor. The question is, does Toshiba have enough brand recognition in the US to best similarly priced tablets from Samsung, Acer and ASUS that offer comparable outputs in performance? Not yet, but at least it's on the right track with the Excite -- so long as it does something about that camera. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| X-37B finally touches down, completing its not-so-secret classified mission (video) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:42 AM PDT After more than a year of circling the globe, the US Air Force's X-37B has finally touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The unmanned, reusable space plane spent 469 days in orbit, performing a number of experiments (many of which are classified) before finally ending its lengthy run Saturday. What exactly the military has learned from the extended orbital excursion is unclear, but, like the Mars rovers before it, the X-37B turned out to be far more robust than many had anticipated. Its mission was originally intended to last just nine months, but its operators managed to milk about six more months out of the craft. While we wait to find out what the next step is, enjoy the video of it landing after the break. Air Force space vehicle comes in for a landing Posted 6/18/2012 Updated 6/18/2012 by Tech. Sgt. Julie Weckerlein 6/18/2012 - WASHNGTON (AFNS) -- The Air Force's unmanned, reusable space plane landed in the early morning of June 16 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., a successful conclusion to a record-setting test-flight mission that began March 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, one of two such vehicles, spent 469 days in orbit to conduct on-orbit experiments, primarily checkout of the vehicle itself. "The vehicle was designed for a mission duration of about 270 days," said Lt. Col. Tom McIntyre, the X-37B program manager. "We knew from post-flight assessments from the first mission that OTV-1 could have stayed in orbit longer. So one of the goals of this mission was to see how much farther we could push the on-orbit duration." Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the X-37B program performs risk reduction, experimentation, and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies. The X-37B mission is the longest space mission only after the NASA Discovery shuttle program. The 11,000-pound state-of-the-art vehicle, which is about a fourth the size of the shuttle, allows space technology experts to continue sending up experiments, with results returning safely to Earth for study. "With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program brings a singular capability to space technology development," McIntyre said. "The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same risk commitment faced by other programs" The vehicle was initially a NASA initiative, but was transferred to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2004. When it first launched in 2006, it was lauded for its cutting-edge technologies, such as the auto de-orbit capability, thermal protection tiles, and high-temperature components and seals. "The X-37B's advanced thermal protection and solar power systems, and environmental modeling and range safety technologies are just some of the technologies being tested," said McIntyre. "Each mission helps us continue to advance the state-of-the-art in these areas." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| InterDigital sells nearly 2,000 wireless patents to Intel, pockets $375 million Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:19 AM PDT InterDigital (we interviewed its CEO last week) is selling off around 1,700 wireless patents and applications to Intel for $375 million. The company is making good on its promise to monetize its vast portfolio of IP, including technologies relating to 3G, WCDMA, HSDPA, HUSPA, LTE and 802.11 WiFi connections. It's a short in the arm for Intel's burgeoning wireless arm, which recently outed its first handset, the San Diego. It'll also strengthen the hand of the company in any litigation relating to the technology should the lawyers come knocking. So far it's not clear if the company is retaining an interest in the files its sold off, but we've reached out for comment and will let you know when we do. Update: The company let us know that it's not retaining any interest in the patents that it's selling off. It also mentioned that the 1,700-strong portfolio equates to around eight percent of the company's overall IP holdings -- a number that it generates roughly every 18 months. InterDigital Agrees to $375 Million Patent Transaction with Intel Global Technology Leader to Acquire Approximately 1,700 Patents and Applications Related to 3G, LTE, 802.11 from InterDigital KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. & SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jun 18, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- InterDigital, Inc. IDCC +28.37% and Intel Corporation INTC +0.40% today announced that certain of InterDigital's subsidiaries have signed a definitive agreement to sell to Intel roughly 1,700 patents and patent applications for $375 million in cash. The agreement involves patents primarily related to 3G, LTE and 802.11 technologies. InterDigital is an active developer of advanced wireless technologies including WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) 3G technologies as well as LTE (Long Term Evolution) and LTE-Advanced 4G technologies. "The acquisition of this portfolio of InterDigital's technologies by a global technology leader like Intel affirms the efforts of our research and development team which actively shares our innovations with the worldwide standards bodies, defining technologies that are central to the world's major wireless systems and devices," said Scott McQuilkin, Senior Executive Vice President, Strategy and Finance at InterDigital. "This transaction, which involves a small portion of our overall patent portfolio, marks an important milestone of InterDigital's stated strategy of expanding the monetization of its large and growing intellectual property portfolio. By executing on our business plan, which has been broadened to include patent sales, licensing partnerships and other possibilities, we see tremendous potential to expand revenue and build shareholder value." "These patents will support Intel's strategic investments in the mobile segment," said Doug Melamed, Intel Senior Vice President and General Counsel. "The addition of these patents expands our already large, strong and diverse portfolio of intellectual property." The companies expect the transaction to be completed in third quarter 2012, subject to customary closing conditions and any required regulatory approvals. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Celestica phases out BlackBerry-related production for RIM Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:01 AM PDT If you were looking for signs of a turnaround in BlackBerry market share through the production chain, you'll unfortunately have to keep looking. One of RIM's manufacturers, Celestica, is planning to phase out its production for the smartphone maker through the next three to six months. The contractor is expecting a relatively small cost of no more than $35 million US. Despite the apparent hit, the departure isn't necessarily a sign of mounting trouble for Waterloo: RIM already said that it wanted to streamline its processes to save money, and consolidating its production efforts certainly fits the bill. We'd expect any bounce back in manufacturing levels to come nearer to the BlackBerry 10 launch, when the company hopes to widen its audience once again. Celestica to wind down manufacturing services for Research in Motion TORONTO, June 18, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- (All amounts in U.S. dollars. Per share information based on diluted shares outstanding unless noted otherwise). Celestica Inc. (NYSE, TSX: CLS), a global leader in the delivery of end-to-end product lifecycle solutions, today announced that over the course of the next three to six months, it will wind down its manufacturing services for Research in Motion (RIM). Celestica has been a high-performing manufacturing supplier for RIM and will work closely with RIM throughout the transition. As discussed on the company's first quarter results conference call on April 24, Celestica has been working with RIM as it assesses its supply chain strategy. Celestica estimates that prior to any recoveries, its restructuring charges will not exceed $35 million. More details about this announcement will be provided as part of the company's second-quarter results press release and conference call, which are scheduled for Friday, July 27. In addition, Celestica is reaffirming its second quarter financial guidance that was provided on April 24. The company anticipates revenue to be in the range of $1.65 billion to $1.75 billion, and adjusted net earnings per share to be in the range of $0.20 to $0.26. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| China conducts its first crewed spaceship docking, gives southeast Asia its place in space Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:42 AM PDT Believe it or not, the only countries to have docked a human-helmed spacecraft in the first 50 years of spaceflight were Russia and the US. That small community just got bigger, as China's Shenzhou-9 has successfully docked with the Tiangong-1 module put in orbit for just such a test. The link-up is being used for experiments in the short term, but it's a key step in a program that will ultimately lead to a full-fledged Chinese space station. On top the wider ambitions, the docking also marks a victory for gender-neutral space travel: Liu Yang, one of three crew members, is the country's first female spacefarer. China's space program has a long road ahead, but it's clear the International Space Station won't be alone for much longer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MacBook Air review (13-inch, mid 2012) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT More InfoThe last time we reviewed the MacBook Air, we didn't have a whole lot to compare it to. Sure, there was the original Samsung Series 9, but it was more expensive, at $1,649, and ran off a standard-voltage processor, often at the expense of battery life. Companies like Lenovo and Toshiba already had deep experience making ultraportables, but those notebooks generally weren't as light, or as skinny, as the Air. A year ago, too, Ultrabooks, as we now know them were little more than a concept as far as the computer-buying public was concerned. Today, there are 110-plus Windows-based Ultrabooks on the horizon, leaving consumers with an overwhelming smorgasbord of thin, shockingly powerful laptops. Apple, for its part, has stuck with the same Air design we liked so much the first time around, though it's refreshed the lineup with speedier Ivy Bridge processors and traded those USB 2.0 ports for 3.0. Additionally, the Air can now be configured with more RAM and roomier storage. Oh, and the 13-inch version now starts at $1,200, down from $1,300. (The 11-inch version still goes for $999 and up.) That sounds promising, making an already-excellent laptop faster and less expensive. Still, with so many comparable products on the Windows side, we have to wonder, does Apple really continue to define the category or have other companies narrowed the gap? Let's find out. Look and feel As it turned out, those rumors of a MacBook Air with Retina display were greatly exaggerated: with the exception of those USB ports, this year's model is exactly the same as last year's, right down to the unibody aluminum shell and contested wedge shape. The good news: the existing design was already pretty swell. At 2.96 pounds (1.35kg), the Air is still lighter than most 13-inch Ultrabooks, which is saying a lot, given how many are hitting the market. And despite being 0.11 inches thick at its skinniest, it still feels reassuringly solid in-hand. At this point, it doesn't necessarily feel better-made than, say, the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, but it's fair to say the build quality is top-notch, and that this kind of attention to detail remains rare. (See this roundup of Ultrabooks from this month's Computex show if you need proof that not all Ivy Bridge-packing ultraportables are created equal.) If we could ask Apple to change one thing about the Air, it would be to make that pretty aluminum casing a little more durable. Anyone who's spent time with a unibody Mac can tell you that smooth metal finish is as scratch-prone as it is beautiful. Unless you handle it with kid gloves, the likelihood that you'll ding it within the first day is fairly high, which kind of saps the fun out of unboxing a new $1,200 toy. To avoid doing any immediate damage, we'd buy some sort of skin along with the laptop itself (Speck's SeeThru Satin case is an Engadget staff favorite). Given that the dimensions and overall aesthetic haven't changed, the only cosmetic differences between this year's Air and the last-gen model are the ports. Starting on the left side, the tried-and-true MagSafe connector has been replaced by MagSafe 2, which has a thinner opening. Unfortunately, that flattened shape renders it incompatible with older adapters. If you're dead-set on reusing your scratched-up old power brick you can make it work using a $10 adapter, but that makes for a rather clumsy setup. The USB port adjacent to it has naturally been upgraded from USB 2.0 to 3.0. On that same side, you'll also find a 3.5mm headphone jack and microphone, just as before. Move along to the right, where you'll see another USB 3.0 socket, along with a Thunderbolt port and SD card reader. If you think you might buy the 11-inch Air instead, that, too, has been refreshed with MagSafe 2 and USB 3.0, but lacks a memory card reader, as it always did. Finishing our tour, the FaceTime camera tucked into the bezel now does 720p video. Keyboard and trackpad
When Apple re-issued the Air last year, it introduced a retooled keyboard with springier, bouncier keys and also backlighting. The result was a clear, much-appreciated improvement over the looser keys used on the earlier models. So it's no surprise, then, that Apple chose not to re-invent the keyboard yet again in 2012. The keys are just as comfy as ever, and though they're not quite as cushy as what you'll find on a MacBook Pro, they still offer more travel than most Ultrabook keyboards. Also unchanged: that spacious glass trackpad. It's still, hands-down, the best laptop trackpad we've tested, with a smooth, low-friction surface that responds impeccably to two-finger swipes, pinch-to-zoom and simple cursor navigation. Palm rejection is excellent as well, and we enjoyed flawless tracking in both OS X and Windows 7, which we installed using Bootcamp. The built-in button, too, is quiet and easy to press. All told, it's still the best keyboard-and-touchpad combination you'll find on a laptop this size. As we've said in other reviews, the problem isn't that other computer makers are incapable of building a precise trackpad or an ergonomically sound set of keys. No, the catch is that they so rarely manage to pull off both. We've tested too many Ultrabooks that stumble on at least one major input device, if not both. Maybe they offer a tactile keyboard and flaky trackpad, or perhaps they bring precise navigation, paired with shallow keys. Considering how often we interact with these parts of a laptop, it's critical PC makers not screw these things up, and we naturally favor those companies that succeed in getting both right. Display and sound If you like, you can go ahead and tell yourself the next generation of Airs will have Retina displays. For now, though, you're looking at the same 1440 x 900, LED-backlit display used in the 2011 model. We can't guarantee you won't be disappointed if you happen to be shopping in an Apple Store, making side-by-side comparisons with the next-gen MacBook Pro. Heck, the Air has competition even from other Ultrabooks, such as ASUS' 1080p Zenbook Primes. Still, compared to what you'll find on most ultraportables, it's quite good. It's crisper, for one, and also offers satisfying contrast and fairly wide viewing angles. At times, you might have to adjust the screen angle to compensate for glare, but nonetheless, you shouldn't have a problem crowding around the laptop with a friend or two to re-watch that bombshell of a Mad Men finale. The Air's speakers push out surprisingly loud sound for such a petite machine, though the quality isn't anything to write home about. Across various genres -- classic rock, pop, hip hop -- songs sound pleasant, though, as with most laptops, you'll still want to pair it with external speakers or maybe a Jambox to unlock a wider soundstage. Performance
Now this is the section you've been waiting for, is it not? We already know how the MacBook Air looks and feels, but how does it perform with that faster processor? The $1,199 model we tested has a 1.8GHz Core i5 CPU, specifically, along with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid-state drive. (The last Air we tested had similar specs, but sported a Sandy Bridge Core i5 CPU clocked at 1.5GHz.) As you can see in the tables above and below, the latest generation offers a considerable performance boost over last year's model, in both Mac and Windows benchmarks. Its PCMark Vantage score of 13,649 is simply blistering. Record-breaking, even. We haven't seen an Ultrabook that comes close to this -- not even the ASUS Zenbook Prime UX21A, which has a Core i7 Ivy Bridge CPU, 4GB of RAM and the same integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics. Granted, the UX21A is the only other Ultrabook we've tested to date with a third-generation Core processor, so we expect there's room for other PC makers to close the benchmark gap once they get their refreshed systems into the hands of reviewers. Still, it's impossible to shrug off that delta in scores entirely: there's no reason the UX21A should score 3,100 points lower in PCMark and nearly 1,300 points less in 3DMark06.
So what do those raw scores translate to in real-world performance? For starters, we timed an 18-second start-up when we were booting into OS X (with Windows, it was closer to 40 seconds). We also ran the disk benchmark ATTO to pull off a more direct comparison with various Ultrabooks we've tested recently, and the SSD inside showed top read / write speeds of 551 MB/s and 521 MB/s, respectively. That's just a shade faster than the ASUS Zenbook UX31, which had been holding steady as the Ultrabook transfer speed champ for about eight months. It's also worth spelling out that the Air stayed quiet throughout our testing period, and surprisingly cool too. Battery life
If we were betting types, we would have guessed the battery life wouldn't be much different from last year's model: after all, this year's Air packs the same 50Wh cell as its predecessor, and Apple is once again promising between five and seven hours of runtime. Besides, early Ivy Bridge benchmarks have suggested the battery life between machines with second- and third-generation Core chips is similar. In fact though, the 2012 Air lasted six hours and 34 minutes in our rundown test, which involves looping a video with WiFi on and the display brightness fixed at 65 percent (in the case of Macs, 10 out of 16 bars). That's about an hour longer than what we got when we ran the 2011 Air through the same test last year. This also makes it the longest-lasting 13-inch Ultrabook we've tested -- a distinction long held by the HP Folio 13. Software and warrantyThough Apple is on the cusp of releasing its next-gen OS, dubbed Mountain Lion, those of you who purchase a MacBook Air within the next few weeks will have to make do with plain old Lion. Fortunately, upgrading will be free for anyone buying one of Apple's latest laptops, and for everyone else upgrading will be fairly cheap: just twenty bucks will get you a license for as many machines as you like. At that point, you'll enjoy features like notifications, iMessage, deep Twitter and iCloud integration and Power Nap, which keeps web-based apps up to date while your machine is asleep. If you're not in a rush, settle in with our in-depth Mountain Lion preview to get a feel for what's coming. Like Apple's other computers, the Air is backed by a one-year warranty, which includes 90 days of free phone support. As always, you can extend that coverage to three years through the company's Apple Care plan. In the case of the Air, that package costs $249 (compared with $349 for the MacBook Pro with Retina display). Configuration options The MacBook Air starts at $999 for the 11-inch version we didn't review here. The base model comes with an Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor clocked at 1.7GHz, 4GB of RAM and a modest 64GB solid-state drive. The higher-end $1,099 model has the same CPU and four gigs of memory, except it offers double the storage space. You can also step up to a 2Ghz dual-core Core i7 CPU ($150), 8GB of RAM ($100) or a 512GB hard drive ($800), but these upgrade options are only available if you start with the pricier $1,099 model. It's a similar deal with the 13-inch version. The entry-level $1,199 configuration features a 1.8GHz Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD. The $1,499 model is the same, except with 256GB of storage capacity. As with the 11-incher, you'll need to select that top-tier model if you want to upgrade to 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD or that 2GHz Core i7 processor. The competition What's your budget? And how much time are you willing to spend wading through the options? If you're the sort of platform-agnostic type just looking to get the best bang for your buck, you have a sprawling, almost unwieldy selection before you. Even if you ruled out all those 11-, 14- and 15-inch Ultrabooks, you'd find yourself faced with dozens of 13-inch contenders, many of them priced in the same ballpark. For the sake of keeping things simple, we'll stick to the models that seem truly promising. Of all the companies challenging Apple's lead, ASUS has been presenting the most compelling reasons to buy a PC instead. Though the outfit's first Ultrabooks performed well and showcased some striking industrial design, they suffered from flat keyboards and flaky touchpads. Now, though, the new Zenbook Primes appear to correct both these shortcomings, all while ushering in 1080p IPS displays and improved performance. We've yet to test one of the 13-inch models, and we still don't know how much these will cost, but it would seem, tentatively, that ASUS' second round of Ultrabooks are about to hand Apple some persuasive competition. People eyeing the Air for its speed, thinness and beauty should also give the Samsung Series 9 a long, hard look before pulling the trigger. In terms of build quality, it's on par with the Air, and there's an argument to be made that its matte, 400-nit, 1600 x 900 display is actually better than the reflective 1440 x 900 Apple is offering. Here, too, the performance is brisk and the battery life is long, though we confess we've only tested the 15-inch version so far. Speaking of which, for those of you who were disappointed when Tim Cook failed to announce a 15-inch Air, the bigger-screened Series 9, just 0.58 inches thick, is still, in some ways, the closet thing you've got. And it just happens to be one of our very favorite laptops of the moment.
We could go on and on about 13-inch Ultrabooks, but as we continue further down the list, we'll start mentioning more trade-offs, from cheap build quality (Acer Aspire S3) to crowded keyboards (Toshiba Portege Z935). We actually have a sweet spot for the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, despite the fact that it's one of the only machines in its price range missing an SD slot, higher-res display and backlit keyboard. It's just so gorgeous, well-made and comfortable to use that we're willing to forgive these shortcomings somewhat. In any case, the problem with the U300s and many of these other Ultrabooks we've reviewed is that they haven't been upgraded to Ivy Bridge yet. All these other potential drawbacks aside, we're reluctant to sell you on a kind-of expensive laptop with dated internals. And what of the Ultrabooks we haven't tested yet? The ones that were on display at Computex earlier this month? Well, this might be as good as time as any to give some serious thought to Windows -- specifically, whether you want to stick around for Win8, and whether you'd prefer using the new OS on a touchscreen. With few exceptions, the most compelling Ultrabooks on offer there (this, this, this and this, for example) were built with touchscreens to help make the most of Microsoft's upcoming, touch-friendly OS. Sure, you might be loathe to track fingerprints all over your 1080p display, or maybe you agree with Mr. Cook that tablets and notebooks are best kept separate. But if you're already jazzed about Windows 8, you should at least consider waiting for those touch models. The operating system was built for fingers, after all, and if that's appealing to you, the Air, Series 9 and non-touch Zenbook Primes might all be the wrong choice for you. Wrap-up At first blush, the MacBook Air doesn't appear to have changed much between 2011 and 2012: it looks exactly the same, save for those USB 3.0 ports and new MagSafe2 connector, and even the 50Wh battery remains unchanged. As for those faster Ivy Bridge processors, well, every PC maker is refreshing their Ultrabooks with Intel's new chips, if they haven't already. We can see where you might expect similar performance across the board, especially with other specs being more or less equal. But you'd be wrong: those tweaks Apple made on the inside amount to some significant performance enhancements, and place the Air at the head of the (very crowded) pack. The battery life is about an hour longer than it was last year, making this the most longevous 13-inch lightweight on the market. By several metrics, too, it steamrolls the competition in terms of speed, even when pitted against another Ivy Bridge machine. Just as important, the Air continues to have the best keyboard-and-trackpad combination of any ultraportable -- something Ultrabook makers are still struggling to get right. All that said, the competition is stiffer this time around: Samsung's Series 9 laptops remain some of our favorites, even if they are pricier. What's more, the Air actually falls short of its competitors in a couple categories -- namely, display quality (winner: the Zenbook Primes) and port selection (winner: the HP Envy Spectre 14). All told, too, there will be some users who decide against all these machines in favor of touchscreen Ultrabooks -- something you won't find Apple making any time soon. Even so, as an all-around performer, the Air triumphs. It ticks off the most boxes, and in particular, succeeds in the areas that matter most to shoppers: speed, longevity and comfortable design. Until PC makers can get all these things right and match Apple on price, the Air remains the ultraportable to beat. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tesla Roadster driver now halfway around the world, catching up with Citroen team (video) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:49 AM PDT Human antagonists can bring far more stress to a journey than a ticking clock. Phileas Fogg learned that, and now Tesla Roadster owner Rafael de Mestre is discovering it too. He wants to be the first to drive a standard EV (i.e. not solar- or hydrogen-powered vehicle) around the world, and just like Jules Verne's hero he intends to do it in 80 days -- but he's not alone. Two Frenchmen in a little Citroen C-Zero (a sibling of the Mitsubishi i) have the same ambition, and although they've budgeted a comfortable eight months for their trip, they already have a three-month head start over de Mestre. As things stand, the Roadster is on a ship bound for China, while the Citroen duo are trundling up through Malaysia. Fortunately, de Mestra's figured out another bit of racing wisdom: the importance of demoralizing your enemies with YouTube clips like the one after the break.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engadget Giveaway: win a new iPad (32GB with AT&T), courtesy of Rebtel! Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:27 AM PDT Nothing like a good post-Father's Day contest to get you fired up for the week, and this time we have a new iPad up for grabs. The offering is made possible by Rebtel, the largest independent VoIP provider. The service recently launched its own iPad-specific app, which will hook you up with calls and texts over WiFi and 3G. It's free to chat it up with other folks using Rebtel, while you can get ahold of everyone else at an inexpensive cost. As for other platforms, Android and Windows Phone clients are on the way later this year. As an added bonus, the service is also throwing in a credit of $100 to the winner (see rules for details). As always, head downward and leave a comment in order to win! The rules:
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| Samsung Galaxy S III gets enterprise-friendly version in the US, wears a Pebble Blue business suit Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:01 AM PDT When Samsung launches its all-out blitz on the US with the Galaxy S III, it'll be targeting boardrooms as well as pockets: the Android 4.0 flagship will be the company's first American phone certified for its SAFE (Samsung Approved for Enterprise) program. Regardless of the carrier, the American Galaxy S III will handle 256-bit AES encryption as well as offer better support for Exchange, remote management and VPNs than what you'd normally find coming from a Google-powered device. Samsung describes it as a way to "defragment" Android for companies that want consistent guarantees of how the OS will behave in the office, and the firm is confident enough that it's offering trade-in discounts for those who want to swap an older device for the secure phone, whether or not it's part of a corporate deal. SAFE-ready examples should be arriving by July and could save you from having to bring an ancient company-supplied phone on summer vacation. Samsung Makes Android SAFE™ for Enterprises, Offers Trade-In Program to Upgrade to the Galaxy S III Samsung is the First to Launch a Quality Assured, Enterprise-Compliant Android Smartphone DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With the AndroidTM operating system projected to be the No. 1 platform for enterprise smartphones by 2013, Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (Samsung Mobile) is simplifying enterprise adoption with the introduction of SAFE (Samsung Approved for Enterprise) and the first SAFE-branded smartphone in the United States, the Galaxy S® III, which will be available at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and US Cellular by July. To aid prosumers and corporations in accessing the most innovative smartphone on the market, Samsung is also introducing SAFE2SWITCH, a trade-up program that offers competitive pricing for qualifying smartphones for both individuals and enterprise customers. SAFE – Optimized for the Enterprise SAFE provides a comprehensive approach to making Android devices secure and manageable by systematically meeting the rapidly evolving needs of IT and the growing number of businesses allowing employees to "bring your own device" (BYOD) to work. Samsung created SAFE as a way to defragment the Android OS across multiple versions from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich at U.S. carriers. Out of the box, the SAFE-branded Galaxy S III supports a full suite of enterprise-ready features and capabilities with support for 338 IT Policies. This includes on-device AES-256 bit encryption, enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and support for industry-leading Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions. Over the last 12 months, Samsung has surpassed its next nearest handset and smartphone competitors to become No. 1 globally and now has its sights set on the enterprise. Working closely with enterprise customers and industry-leading solutions providers, Samsung developed a thorough quality assurance program. This program begins with MDM and VPN solutions providers using Samsung's software development kit to deeply integrate their solution on the SAFE device. Once the development effort is completed, Samsung and the solution provider then thoroughly test and verify the device's support for the MDM and/or VPN software. This collaboration, coupled with the testing process, creates solutions that are optimized for SAFE devices and enterprise use including adoption within regulated industries such as healthcare, financial services and government. "It's now safe to say that the 'Next Big Thing in Enterprise' is here with the near-term availability of SAFE-branded Galaxy S III devices at five U.S. carriers," said Tim Wagner, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Sales at Samsung Mobile. "The highly desirable, SAFE-branded and QA-tested Galaxy S III smartphone systematically defragments Android to provide a consistent level of IT compliance for individuals who demand the very best in both their personal and professional lives." Galaxy S III – Powerful, Collaborative, Secure The Galaxy S III offers secure features and capabilities that may be used in a wide range of business situations to improve efficiency and productivity. * AllShare Play - Group Cast: Securely share PowerPoint presentations and PDFs with business partners also using Galaxy S III devices SAFE2SWITCH Prosumer / Enterprise Trade-In Program With the launch of the SAFE-branded Galaxy S III, Samsung is announcing the availability of a trade-up program called SAFE2SWITCH which simplifies the transition to Samsung SAFE devices from Samsung or other manufacturers' smartphones. Both prosumers and corporate customers alike can take advantage of this program which offers very competitive trade-in values in real-time from their existing smartphone or Internet-connected device. For more details, visit www.samsungsafe2switch.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toughbook goes Ivy Bridge with 10-inch magnesium CF-19 Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:37 AM PDT One thing we haven't seen too much of from the ongoing Ivy Bridge onslaught, is rugged notebooks. Sure, there was that Durabook from last week, but not much else -- and we all know the big name in indestructible laptops is Panasonic's Toughbook line. Luckily, for those of you with jobs or hobbies that tend to involve dust storms and head-on collisions, the CF-19 is on the way with a 3.3GHz Core i5 under its 10.1-inch hood. The €2,950 (roughly, $3,727), convertible notebook has an optional touchscreen, 500GB hard drive, SSD options for the drop prone, as well as lone USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. If you're a truly mobile warrior, there's even an HSPA+ upgrade available for the wireless card. Basically it's the Toughbook 19 we've all grown to know and love, but with some nice Intel upgrades on the inside. The updated rugged lappy should start shipping in Europe this July, but we're still waiting on availability info for the US. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barnes & Noble reportedly 'not involved' in tonight's big Microsoft event (Update: confirmed) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:34 AM PDT Rumors floating around over the weekend suggested that any tablet announcement made by Microsoft today could involve Barnes and Noble, its latest "strategic partner." According to Business Insider, the bookseller has stated that it hasn't got anything to announce alongside the Redmond company at today's not-so hush-hush event. We're contacting the bookseller to confirm, but what is Microsoft up to? Hit up our liveblog because we'll be there, ready to tell you precisely what goes down later today. Update: Confirmation has arrived. B&N told us that "we are not a part of their announcement today." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CyanogenMod nightlies reach Samsung Galaxy S III, Nature UX critics unite Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:11 AM PDT Let's say you're a fan of the quad-core processor and giant screen of the international Galaxy S III, but Samsung's Nature UX just leaves you feeling cold. Thankfully, the first CyanogenMod 9 nightly builds have arrived to warm you up. They both bring the OS closer to the official Android Open Source Project version while adding the extras that we've seen before, such as theme support, an audio equalizer and gesture shortcuts on the lock screen. Nightlies are well away from becoming polished releases, so don't be surprised if your Galaxy S III goes awry -- the team is already advising starting from a completely blank slate. But if that desire to get more control over the OS is still strong enough to throw at least a slight amount of caution to the wind, the source will provide all the downloads and details needed to give Samsung's interface the boot. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sharp teams up with design company for new Feel UX Android skin (video) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 06:39 AM PDT While the western hemisphere hasn't (perhaps fortunately) got to experience Sharp's existing Android UI, it's announced that it'll be teaming up with design firm, frog, to craft Feel UX, a new "highly personalized", "visually stunning" smartphone experience. It will land on Sharp's next wave of AQUOS smartphones this summer, and will presumably tie-in to Japan-centric features like 1seg TV and IR receivers. We're told that highlights will include photo browsing and widget functionality without unlocking devices and "real-time weather display motion experience and animation." If you're getting a strong 'Sense' of déjà vu, you're not alone, but we're still intrigued by frog's efforts to "streamline" the home screen and tinker with app management -- some of those lockscreen shortcuts are looking mighty convenient. Sharp's Global Product Development Center's Itsuki Kouchi reckons it'll help them create "distinctive" devices, so take a look at the UI in action after the break and make that call for yourself. However, given a choice, we may still plump for Sharp's fan-baiting Evangelion skin. frog Redefines Android Experience TOKYO, June 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Leading design and innovation firm frog today announced that it has partnered with Sharp Corporation (Sharp) to create "Feel UX", a new Android smartphone experience that is easy to use, highly personalized, and visually stunning. The collaboration brings together a global interdisciplinary team of strategists, designers, and engineers across both companies to design a distinctive and meaningful connected experience for the next generation of Sharp's AQUOS smartphones. According to global business analytics firm comScore, four out of five mobile phone users in Japan currently own a feature phone. However, in February 2012, the number of purchased smartphones surpassed the number of feature phones over the same period. This signals an ever-increasing importance for handset manufacturers to design and develop compelling and differentiated smartphone experiences for consumers. "To capture the expanding market of smartphone users, we wanted the new Sharp AQUOS handsets to be a unique kind of Android experience, to look and feel different and standout from competitors," said Paul Pugh, Vice President, Creative, Software Innovation at frog. "By simplifying the interaction model and reducing clutter through a more curated experience, it will be immediately apparent to customers how to use the phones and make them more personal. In addition, the design caters to current Android users by giving them new tools to organize and optimize their handsets, while personalizing the phone in ways not previously possible." The newly designed "Feel UX" for Sharp's AQUOS smartphones will be available in Japan during the summer of 2012 and include the following features: Personalized and innovative lock-screen experience, allowing users to browse photos and widgets without unlocking the devices "frog was chosen as Sharp's innovation partner because of the company's unique combination of consumer insights, strategy, design, and software engineering capabilities," said Itsuki Kouchi, Division Deputy General Manager, Global Product Development Center at Sharp. "Through our collaboration with frog, we have adopted an advanced approach to Android's concept, features, and philosophy, creating a distinctive device that will ultimately increase the life of the product and enhance customer satisfaction."
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| Nissan says Leaf charger will start powering homes in July, details new battery (video) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 05:54 AM PDT We kicked the tires on Nissan's Leaf-based EV Power Station in Tokyo a while back, and now the company has announced that Japanese customers will start receiving the home power backups in July. On top of trundling you around town, the EV's battery will supply 6kWh of juice to your house, keeping it powered for up to two days. It also features an advanced charger, which can juice the Leaf to 80% capacity in only four hours, compared to the eight usually required to get to that level. It'll be sold through Nissan dealers and will run 480,000 yen ($6,000), or less with government subsidies -- in addition to the $35K you'd need for the car itself, of course. Roll on past the break for the video details.
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| Onkyo mid-range networking home theatres flaunt 4K image, multi-source PIP Posted: 18 Jun 2012 05:26 AM PDT We've seen the high and low ends, and now Onkyo has thrown its alphabet soup of networking and A/V tech into its mid-range HT-S6500 5.1 surround ($799) and HT-S7500 7.1 ($899) home theater systems. For starters, the systems will support 4K displays, and use a Marvell Qdeo to automatically upscale HD to the higher resolution. Audio-wise, they'll pump out 80 watts of WRAT sound with 192Khz 24-bit TI DACs and a 32-bit DSP processing chip, and 120 watts of thump through the subs. There's a plethora of connectivity options with up to seven HDMI inputs -- and PIP to see them all at once -- along with direct iDevice connections, optional WiFi adapter and other digital and analog I/O. On top of full DNLA support and most internet radio options, Onkyo will also allow iPhone or Android handsets to control either receiver with its remote control app. So if you've been jonesing on TrueHD 5.1 Audio or those new 4K displays, now you'll have two more options to play them through. Onkyo Delivers Mid-price Networking Home Theater Systems UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ (6/14/12) --- Onkyo has introduced two new home theater system packages, each combining a sophisticated network receiver with lots of 3D-Ready HDMI inputs, high definition audio and video, and a set of five or seven surround-sound loudspeakers with a powerful subwoofer. These are Onkyo's first packaged home theater systems to include InstaPrevue, a new source selection technology that provides a picture-in-picture display of programs available on connected HDMI devices. The Onkyo HT-S6500 and HT-S7500 are designed to deliver state-of-the-art high definition video with a Marvel Qdeo video processor that can upscale low-resolution video to 1080p for conventional high-definition displays, and to 4K for the new higher resolution displays. For HDMI sources, there is automatic decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio high-resolution audio sound tracks to provide fully immersive home theater surround sound. Both systems have built-in networking and USB digital access to a vast array of on-line and digital media resources. The Onkyo HT-S7500 is 7.1-channel system with two floor-standing front speakers for exceptional music and theater sound, a dedicated center channel for crystal clear dialog, four compact surround speakers for hair-tingling ambience, and a 120-watt powered subwoofer for deep bass effects. It also includes Dolby ProLogic IIz for the option of a front-height channel. The HT-S6500 is a 5.1-channel system with more compact speakers and the same subwoofer. Both systems are powered by an 80-watts -per-channel receiver with WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology), a proven amplification concept that reduces noise and provides large amounts of controlled power instantaneously. Top -quality TI Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DACs on all channels, a powerful 32-bit DSP processing chip and discrete amplifier design all contribute to exceptionally good audio performance. The HT-S7500 and HT-S6500 receivers both have HDMI inputs for seven and six source components, respectively, plus ARC (audio return channel ). They also have a direct digital connection for an iPod/iPhone via a front-panel USB Port. This port can also be used with Onkyo's optional UWF-1 Wireless LAN Adapter as well as the forthcoming UBT-1 USB Bluetooth adapter. Both receivers have connections for analog audio, optical/coaxial digital audio, and component and composite video for legacy source devices. These receivers offer exceptional Internet Radio connectivity with built-in modules for Pandora, Rhapsody, Slacker, SIRIUS XM Internet Radio, Last fm, vTuner, Spotify, and AUPEO! . They are DLNA certified, Windows 7 compatible, and support playback of MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, and LPCM audio files through a local network. Both receivers support Onkyo's remote control Apps for most iPod touch/iPhone, Android phones and Kindle Fire. Audyssey 2EQ is included to correct room acoustics, Audyssey Dynamic EQ provides for loudness correction, and Audyssey Dynamic Volume to maintain optimal listening levels and dynamic range. Audyssey configuration is incorporated in the new Initial Set-up program. This program employs a graphical user interface that helps the user to set up the system easily and intuitively. The Onkyo HT-S7500 has powered Zone 2 and the HT-S6500 has Zone 2 pre-outs. Both receivers have 4 DSP Modes for gaming: rock, sports, action, and RPG. Onkyo's Advanced Music Optimizer expands the dynamic range of comp ressed digital music files. The Onkyo HT-S7500 and HT-S6500 home theater systems will be available in this month with suggested retail prices of $899 and $799, respectively. In Canada, the prices are C$999 and C$799 respectively. About Onkyo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 05:00 AM PDT Surreptitiously introduced to Apple Stores in the midst of new MacBook introductions and hardware refreshes, the Smart Case is Apple's latest official option for iPad protection. It's teamed together the foldable Smart Cover of last year with a soft-touch rubbery shell to defend the other half of Apple's premier tablet. The case fits both the Retina display-decked new iPad and the iPad 2, so we decided to grab one to protect our iOS slab. Does it do the job? Well, it certainly protects the tablet from keys, spare change and other pointy objects, however, because it's made for two slightly different sized devices, it didn't fit as snugly as we'd hoped, with an especially wide rim around the front also reducing the premium feel of the Smart Cover-esque front flap. So, is it still worth the $50 price tag? That's a little trickier to say, so check out some more impressions and our verdict after the break. The new all-round cover is very tactile -- the matte finish was easy to grip and while we haven't intentionally put our iPad in any danger, the same finish helped to disguise any dings it's suffered so far. The range of colors offers up something a little more visually stimulating than the monochrome hues of the hardware itself -- the red case we chose really does pop. To its detriment -- and presumably due to it being compatible with two different iterations -- there is also some space between the top of the case and the iPad. This means it doesn't fit as tightly to the tablet as we'd like -- you can press into the case at the top when it held onto our new iPad. Both the top and bottom edges bend a little when put under a little stress, although we never felt that the device would slip out. There is some nice detail to the back of the case, with the physical buttons encased but still sensitive to button presses, with printed icons on both sides of the volume rocker. Also, due to the arrangement of these, the charging port and the camera, the case only fits onto your iPad in the one orientation -- like a typical book. If you're not sold on the slight flexibility of the Smart Case, or that unusually heavy rim, there are several other capable case and case-cover combinations out there. Both Speck and Incipio have options for covering the entirety of your iPad and are worth looking at before making the outlay for Apple's official option. However, pairing the likes of a Smart Cover and Incipio's Smart feather Ultralight Case totals $74 -- more than the standalone Smart Case. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Google reveals government censorship requests are on the rise Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:24 AM PDT Google's updated its transparency report to show how many times governments worldwide sought to censor search results, drop YouTube videos or look at user data in the second half of last year. Each request is logged and detailed, with the most filings coming from the US, UK and India. The requests varied from censoring a video where a Canadian citizen creatively destroyed his passport (not complied with) through to blogs promoting hate speech and violence (complied with). Mountain View's list makes for interesting reading, but it's not all bad news: where videos were merely critical or satirical of the local authorities, the search giant refused to pull 'em, respecting private citizens right to free speech in a great majority of cases. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Android apps that use power control APIs are often 'battery killers,' oh the irony Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:15 AM PDT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Linus Torvalds: 'NVIDIA is the worst we've ever dealt with' (video) Posted: 18 Jun 2012 03:37 AM PDT Fresh from receiving technology prize plaudits, Linux creator Torvalds is still telling it how it is. In a recent Q&A session at Aalto University in Finland, he said that NVIDIA was "single worst company we've ever dealt with," responding to an audience member's question on her Optimus-powered laptop and its lack of Linux support. While she was finally able to get it working on her machine through some GitHub help, Torvalds was unequivocal about his thoughts on NVIDIA. Throwing in a middle-finger gesture to the camera, he was particularly irritated with the fact that the chipmaker's own Tegra range were faring so well on the wave of Android devices currently hitting stores, as Google's mobile OS itself came from a strong Linux background. Aside from hardware manufacturer gripes, Torvalds goes on to discuss his work with open source development in greater detail -- the full talk is right after the break. You can jump through to the 49th minute mark to hear the Linux founder's complaints, but be warned, family readership -- he drops the f-bomb.
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| BMW's i Pedelec hitches lift (and top-up) from plug-in i3 electric car Posted: 18 Jun 2012 03:24 AM PDT The i Pedelec electric bike has just been given a range boost -- in a way. BMW's created a new concept version of its i3 electric vehicle, which dedicates the rear half of the car to housing a pair of BMW's fold-up cycles. When docked inside the vehicle, the bikes can be recharged, although the car maker hasn't released specifics on how many charges the electric car prototype can dole out. With a top speed of 16 mph and a range of up to 25 miles (depending on the amount of assistance needed), around 200 of these i Pedelecs will join BMW's vehicle fleet for next month's Olympics in London. While there's no sight of pricing for high-earning cyclists in need of some electric oomph, the prototype car will set eco road-warriors back around $56,000. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Audi's e-Tron becomes the first hybrid to win Le Mans, saves the planet at the same time Posted: 18 Jun 2012 02:55 AM PDT Audi's R-18 e-Tron diesel-electric hybrid has become the first car of its kind to win the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race. Audi and Toyota both submitted environmentally friendly racers, but the latter's LMP1 crashed, which left the German automaker to a 1-2 finish (while a pair of non-hybrid racers placed third and fifth, respectively). Unlike battery-based hybrids, the R-18 uses a hefty turbo-diesel V6 pushing power to the back wheels, along with a flywheel to recover braking energy and drive a motor attached to the front wheels. The company has revealed that it's actually testing this far cheaper, battery-free system in a production vehicle, so perhaps it's only a matter of time before you'll be able to go a full day on a tank -- give or take the odd rest stop.
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| Samsung's new CEO promises 'particular focus' on software, UI and design Posted: 18 Jun 2012 02:33 AM PDT There's nothing worse than complacency in an incoming CEO, so it's fortunate that Kwon Oh-hyun is prepared to openly address weaknesses in his empire. He used his inaugural speech to declare that "a particular focus must be given to serving new customer experience and value by strengthening soft capabilities in software, user experience, design and solutions." Behind the corporate language, it sounds like he could be getting at the same issue we found with the Galaxy S III: Sammy is unrivalled when it comes to technology and specs, but its sense of aesthetic and UI arguably still needs some work. Equally, he could also be referring to an ongoing desire to expand the Bada mobile OS and the ChatON messaging service. The question now is how much of Samsung's river of cash he's planning to divert to his developers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LG Optimus L5 to complete the L-style ensemble later this month Posted: 18 Jun 2012 02:02 AM PDT The final middle piece of LG's L-style puzzle, the 4-inch Optimus L5, is pegged to arrive in the UK, Germany and France in the next two weeks. The sub-10mm phone packs the same design elements seen in the rest of the L-style series, meaning it'll also look uncannily similar to both the incoming Optimus Vu and Prada Phone 3.0. Aside from Android 4.0, the mid-ranger doesn't house that many surprises underneath those designer lines. Ho-hum specifications include a single core 800MHz processor, 4GB of (microSD-expandable) internal storage and a 5-megapixel camera. Once it's toured Western Europe, the device has plans to see the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America, although LG isn't saying whether the Optimus L5 has plans for a visit to North America. STYLISH LG OPTIMUS L5 MAKES GLOBAL DEBUT True to L-Style's elegant design philosophy, the LG Optimus L5 is a seamless merger of style and technology. Dressed in a sensuously slim body measuring only 9.5mm, the smartphone comes packed with intuitive and intelligent features such as dual SIM capabilities (in Asia, CIS, Middle East, Central and South America only) and NFC "Tag & Play" (in Europe and North America) for mobile commerce and peer-to-peer sharing. Running on the Google's latest Ice Cream Sandwich Android operating system, the LG Optimus L5 offers the best-in-class 4.0-inch display for a roomy and error-free mobile experience. The new user interface also lets you get more done with fewer finger taps. The Optimus L5 boasts LG's new User Experience (UX) with QuickMemoTM which allows users the ability to instantly jot memos or notes from any screen without having to open a separate application. "The LG Optimus L5 is a very balanced smartphone that offers a great combination of design, display, performance, battery life and price that many will find very attractive," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "This device, along with other products in our L-Series portfolio, will especially appeal to fashion forward users everywhere." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ArduSat wants to put Arduino satellite, your experiments into orbit Posted: 18 Jun 2012 01:02 AM PDT
Short of scoring a spot on the ISS experiment docket, putting your scientific aspirations into orbit can be a bit tricky. Why not try crowdsourcing your way into space? ArduSat's barking up that very tree, asking Kickstarter contributors to help them get a Arduino CubeSat off the ground. Headed by NanoSatisfi, a tech startup operating out of NASA's Ames Research Center, the project hopes to raise enough funds to launch an Arduino bank and a bevy of open-source sensors into orbit. The payoff for backers? Access. Varying levels of contribution are rewarded with personalized space broadcasts, remote access to the space hardware's onboard cameras and even use of the machine's sensors to run experiments of the backer's own design. If all goes well, the team hopes to launch more satellites for the everyman, including a unit dedicated to letting would-be stellar photographers take celestial snapshots. Sure, it's far cry from actually launching yourself into the stars, but would you rather be a tourist, or a scientist? Check out project at the source link below, and mull over that for awhile. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NNSA Sequoia supercomputer takes worlds fastest title, prevents nuclear testing Posted: 18 Jun 2012 12:00 AM PDT Fujitsu's 10.51 petaflop K supercomputer is pretty fast, but does it pack enough computational oomph to stave off underground nuclear testing? Probably -- but the NNSA's new sixteen petaflop rig does it better. According to the National Nuclear Security Administration, a supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, dubbed Sequoia, is now the fastest supercomputer on the planet, clocking in at 16.32 sustained petaflops. "Sequoia will provide a more complete understanding of weapons performance, notably hydrodynamics and properties of materials at extreme pressure sand temperatures," says NNSA Director of Advanced Simulation and Computing Bob Meisner, explaining that supercomputer simulations will "support the effort to extend the life of aging weapons systems." Translation? Sequoia will help the NNSA keep the US' nuclear stockpile stable without resorting to nuclear testing, or put simply, more computational power, fewer explosions. We can't think of a better thing to do with 98,304 compute nodes, 1.6 million cores and 1.6 petabytes of memory spread across 96 racks -- can you? Check out the official press release after the break. NNSA's Sequoia Supercomputer Ranked as World's Fastest WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today announced that a supercomputer called Sequoia at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was ranked the world's most powerful computing system. Clocking in at 16.32 sustained petaflops (quadrillion floating point operations per second), Sequoia earned the number one ranking on the industry standard Top500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers released Monday, June 18, at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC12) in Hamburg, Germany. Sequoia was built for NNSA by IBM. A 96-rack IBM Blue Gene/Q system, Sequoia will enable simulations that explore phenomena at a level of detail never before possible. Sequoia is dedicated to NNSA's Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program for stewardship of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, a joint effort from LLNL, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. "Computing platforms like Sequoia help the United States keep its nuclear stockpile safe, secure, and effective without the need for underground testing," said NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino. "While Sequoia may be the fastest, the underlying computing capabilities it provides give us increased confidence in the nation's nuclear deterrent as the weapons stockpile changes under treaty agreements, a critical part of President Obama's nuclear security agenda. Sequoia also represents continued American leadership in high performance computing, key to the technology innovation that drives high-quality jobs and economic prosperity." "Sequoia will provide a more complete understanding of weapons performance, notably hydrodynamics and properties of materials at extreme pressures and temperatures. In particular, the system will enable suites of highly resolved uncertainty quantification calculations to support the effort to extend the life of aging weapons systems; what we call a life extension program (LEP)," said Bob Meisner, NNSA director of the ASC program. Uncertainty quantification, or "UQ," is the quantitative characterization and reduction of uncertainty in computer applications through running very large suites of calculations to characterize the effects of minor differences in the systems. Sources of uncertainty are rife in the natural sciences and engineering. UQ uses statistical methods to determine likely outcomes. The machine will be an important tool used to support stockpile life extension programs, including the B61 and the W78. By reducing the time required for these studies, total costs are also reduced. In addition, the machine is expected to enhance NNSA's ability to sustain the stockpile by resolving any significant findings in weapons systems, bringing greater power to the annual assessment of the stockpile, and anticipating and avoiding future problems that inevitably result from aging. All of this helps to ensure that the nation will never have to return to nuclear explosive testing. Supercomputers such as Sequoia have allowed the U.S. to have confidence in its nuclear weapons stockpile over the 20 years since nuclear testing ended in 1992. The insight that comes from supercomputing simulations is also vital to addressing nonproliferation and counterterrorism issues as well as informing other national security decisions such as nuclear weapon policy and treaty agreements. "Sequoia is an exciting achievement for the POWER architecture, not just for its speed and energy efficiency, but also for the important and complex work it can support to safeguard the nation's nuclear stockpile," said Colin Parris, General Manager IBM Power Systems. "With supercomputers capable of 16 sustained petaflops, our ability to affect strategic change in areas like life sciences, public safety, energy and transportation that make our world smarter is greater than ever. The improvements in affordability, performance, efficiency and size that Sequoia delivers will also enable a broader set of commercial customers to implement HPC for their competitive advantage." The NNSA/LLNL/IBM partnership has produced six HPC systems that have been ranked among the world's most powerful computers including: The Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) Blue Pacific; ASCI White; the Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Purple; Blue Gene/L; Blue Gene/P; and Blue Gene/Q, Sequoia. ASCI White, Blue Gene/L and now Sequoia all attained a number one ranking on the Top500 list. Sequoia is primarily water cooled and consists of 96 racks; 98,304 compute nodes; 1.6 million cores; and 1.6 petabytes of memory. Though orders of magnitude more powerful than such predecessor systems as ASC Purple and Blue Gene/L, Sequoia will be roughly 90 times more power efficient than Purple and about eight times more than BG/L relative to the peak speeds of these systems. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mozilla's 'Junior' iPad browser prototype keeps it simple Posted: 17 Jun 2012 10:21 PM PDT Love your iPad, but hate Safari? Mozilla's Alex Limi can relate, it's "a pretty miserable experience," he says. So what's he doing about it? Building a replacement, of course. In a recent presentation showing the fruits of the Mozilla Product Design Strategy team's labors, Limi offered a glimpse at Junior, an iPad browser that hopes to redefine how we view the internet on tablets. The prototype browser eschews the traditional address bar / tab layout in favor of a minimalistic, full screen experience, flanked by only two obvious toggles -- a back button, and a plus symbol that opens a menu containing favorites, recent pages and a URL / search bar. Other common options such as reload, forward and print are hidden away, but accessible. The idea is a simple browsing experience that's more fun, engaging and ergonomic. "It's very simple," Limi summarizes, "it's a browser." He stresses that Junior is still just a prototype, albeit a compelling one. Interested? Check out Limi's full product design presentation at the source link below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Verizon intros FiOS Quantum, officially priced up to 300Mbps Posted: 17 Jun 2012 09:01 PM PDT What's faster than FiOS internet service? FiOS Quantum evidently, as Verizon's latest high-speed internet service gets an official name and pricing. Effectively doubling every tier -- except the entry-level 15/5 -- each can be acquired with or without a custom bundle, double or triple play, and range in price from $65 to $175 a month -- except the 300 down / 65 up which is only available by itself for $210 a month. Willing to commit for two years? Well, then you can save yourself a few extra bucks a month. Existing customers won't have to pay an upgrade fee to take advantage of the new speed, but their bill will probably go up about $10 to $15 a month -- depending on what other changes they might make to their bundle. The real question is can one even take advantage of these crazy speeds, but we for one would love to find out. Verizon Combines Insane Internet Speeds With Sensible Value in New FiOS Bundles Introduces New Ultra-High-Performance 'FiOS Quantum' Service, NEW YORK – Verizon residential consumers can now order the company's fastest-ever FiOS Internet service, which features heightened flexibility for consumers to order personalized bundles to match their lifestyles. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How would you change the Orbotix Sphero? Posted: 17 Jun 2012 07:36 PM PDT Orbotix's novelty smartphone-controlled robotic cue ball is so fun, even The President has been snapped playing with one. It's a toy, and as such doesn't really serve a function beyond chasing your pets around the kitchen. When we reviewed it, we found that the steering was sluggish and frankly, the novelty wore off pretty quickly. But how about you out there? What have you spent your time doing with the thing, or has it sat untouched on a shelf for the past few months? We wanna know, and the moment for you to tell us is in the comments below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Refresh Roundup: week of June 11th, 2012 Posted: 17 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! Official Android updates
Unofficial Android updates, custom ROMs and misc. hackery
Refreshes we covered this week
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| Microsoft's rumored tablet may be a Barnes & Noble collaboration with Xbox Live video streaming Posted: 17 Jun 2012 03:18 PM PDT Rumors swirling around Microsoft's mystery event on Monday have repeatedly centered on a tablet, but if TechCrunch sources are right, Microsoft may only play a partial role in the project. The unveiling, according to the claims, may instead be a tablet, e-reader or a crossover of the two built in teamwork with Barnes & Noble -- a company that just recently established a vague partnership with Microsoft after many months of legal wrangling over Android and the Nook. The slate may not include Windows 8 RT at all, despite earlier assertions, but that's not to say that Microsoft wouldn't be breaking ground in other areas. One of the reported insiders believes it could be the first device without the Microsoft badge to get Xbox Live video streaming, which might explain Redmond's eagerness to turn Xbox into a general media brand at its E3 keynote. It's still very much unknown if there will be any hardware at all, although decisions to host the event in the media capital of Los Angeles and detach the invitation from any existing Microsoft division provide at least indirect support for the notion. Whatever happens, we'll be there tomorrow to give you the lowdown. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Switched On: Going Thermonuclear Posted: 17 Jun 2012 03:03 PM PDT Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. More InfoAt the debut of the T-Mobile G1, Switched On identified the central conflict that would quickly tear apart the goodwill between Apple and Google. In fact, in Steve Jobs' authorized biography, Walter Isaacson quotes the late Apple CEO on Android, noting that the he was prepared to "go thermonuclear war" on the iOS competitor. Indeed, the first WWDC since Jobs' death was filled with enough anti-Google swipes to smudge every iPhone screen in Moscone West. But the verbal lashings were nothing compared to the beating back that Google and Android took in relation to iOS 6 feature announcements. Siri ExpansionApple could have significantly increased its content and service partnerships or opened a Siri API to developers. It did neither, but opted instead to extend its domain expertise, showing off sports, movies and restaurant reservations. In tackling sports and location, Apple moves further into leveraging Siri as a search end-run and moves toward integrating search and transactions (see: Passbook). The company has also started an ambitious program of integrating a Siri button into car steering wheels and announced nine auto-making partners including Audi, Mercedes, GM, Toyota and Honda. This is clearly intended to take the iPod dock integration with which Apple was so successful to the next level and poses a challenge to the Sync system Ford has developed with Microsoft. Facebook IntegrationSeeking to make the iPhone the best Facebook experience on a smartphone, Apple has apparently been able to get back to the negotiating table with Facebook and integrated the social network in its mobile and desktop operating systems. In fact, Facebook has been embedded more deeply than Twitter, although this is in part due to Facebook simply being a richer service. Maps OverhaulApple has finally rolled out the long-rumored replacement for the Maps application and integrated free turn-by-turn directions. Nice touches include Siri integration, on-the-fly local resources and rerouting. Navigating with 3D building visualizations, sometimes a tricky endeavor, seemed to work well. Passbook E-wallet ForayContinuing the transaction trend driven with Siri, Apple has moved tentatively into the e-wallet space with Passbook, which aggregates loyalty cards and tickets. Most of the activity seemed to focus on QR codes but Apple may be setting the stage for an NFC-equipped iPhone. WWDC sure looked a bit like the Android armageddon. Apple is circumventing search with Siri, taking on Google Maps, beginning to move against Google Wallet (tentatively, for now) and cozying up with Google rival Facebook. Even integrating Apple ID with phone numbers may cause challenges for Google Voice users. But also in these instances, and in many cases beyond these features, there's a strong customer-focused argument for why Apple chose implementation. Only a foolhardy company would let revenge be the driving force behind product development. On the other hand, one can see how Apple might want to take control of navigation on iOS and avoid having Google know what's needed to integrate maps with Siri for competitive reasons. After all, an ice cream sandwich is not the only dish best served cold. Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) is executive director and principal analyst of the NPD Connected Intelligence service at The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On are his own. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engadget Mobile Podcast 142 - 06.17.2012 Posted: 17 Jun 2012 01:49 PM PDT  Another two hours of podcasty goodness from Brad and Myriam in the span of one week -- this time featuring Richard "The James Bond Of Tech Journalism" Lai on the PadFone. He's basically what they based Skyfall on, so if you don't have the $21.50 to spare on the IMAX version of that film you can listen to this podcast for as much, if not more, usable and entertaining information. Oh, and it's Myriam's 100th Engadget Mobile podcast, too. 00:01:38 - ASUS PadFone review Hear the podcast This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The front flap behaves like the Smart Cover we've seen before, although this time it's connected to the rest of the casing. The flap folded behind the tablet painlessly enough, while the tablet can still be laid flat on any surface. It also folds up to form a landscape stand for your tablet, although perhaps due to the rubbery construction of the rest of the case, there's a bit of give when it's mounted. We were also unhappy with the heavy border that fixes the case onto the device -- we thought it felt a lot less solid at the corners compared to holding the standalone iPad and makes the whole thing look slightly chunkier.
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