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- 10 Gigabit per-second connection between US and China demoed
- Android Army: US soldiers to leverage portable battlefield network and smartphones
- Don't worry, you're not the only one: Netflix is currently down, admins hard at work (Update: back up)
- FEMA and National Weather Service launch Wireless Emergency Alert System
- Scientists develop flush-efficient toilet system that can turn waste into energy, sort before it recycles
- University of Tokyo builds a soap bubble 3D screen, guarantees your display stays squeaky clean (video)
- HTC teases something 'Incredible' for the US in July, we think a 4G LTE Droid might fit the bill
- Windows 8 renames Windows Explorer, File Explorer to help you find files instead
- FCC Fridays: June 29, 2012
- Apple lands preliminary ban against Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US (update: search patent the key)
- Visualized: The iPhone five years after launch
- Crowd-funded group building asteroid-mapping telescope, saving Earth (video)
- Recon goggles gain Facebook integration and augmented reality at Google I/O (hands-on video)
- Rdio goes minimalist, tries another redesign on for size
- LG Optimus L7 review: a beautiful, entry-level Android 4.0 smartphone with LG's new UI 3.0
- Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5pm ET!
- Cracking the Nexus Q, Google's 25-watt amplified obsession
- IRL: Bose SoundLink, DropCopy and Worldmate Gold
- Jelly Bean port passes the butter to the Galaxy S III, ROM-flashing required
| 10 Gigabit per-second connection between US and China demoed Posted: 30 Jun 2012 12:15 AM PDT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Android Army: US soldiers to leverage portable battlefield network and smartphones Posted: 29 Jun 2012 10:36 PM PDT Smartphones: the future of wartime communication? That is the goal of the US Army through the development of its portable wireless network, dubbed Warfighter Information Network-Tactical or WIN-T. The Army hopes to leverage WIN-T to bring near-instant digital communication to the battlefield by outfitting soldiers with Motorola Atrix handsets running a heavily modified version of Android. An exposé by Wired explains that the system's main goal is information and intelligence sharing; between both soldiers and central command. Friendly troop positions, suspicious vehicles or persons and surveillance video from unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs) can all be mapped and shared with servicemen and women in the field. It's been a dream of the Pentagon since the mid-nineties, but has only recently become monetarily and technologically feasible due to advances in smartphone processing power. It's nerdy, it's fascinating... and this is the stuff the Army is willing to talk about. Hit the source link for the full write-up. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 29 Jun 2012 09:14 PM PDT What to do on this Friday night? If your answer to that age old question was "Netflix," then you likely received a bit of a rude shock this evening upon discovery that the company's video streaming service is currently out-of-whack. If you're wondering why that is, it appears to be tied to some of Amazon's EC2 servers in Virgina losing power due to the bad weather there. As VentureBeat notes, it's a problem which is also affecting sites like Instagram and Pinterest at the moment. For its part, Netflix has acknowledged the issue via its Twitter account, to which it states, "We're aware that some members are experiencing issues streaming movies and TV shows. We're working to resolve the problem." So, there you have it. Now the only question that remains is whether you'll break out one of those red envelopes, fire up Hulu Plus or venture out to the theater to satiate your movie desires. Update: @Netflix just tweeted that everyone should be back up, or will be shortly. The Amazon AWS dashboard indicates it's recovering as of 3:13AM, so all should be ready for your tilt-shifted Saturday brunch pics and subsequent dream board updates. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FEMA and National Weather Service launch Wireless Emergency Alert System Posted: 29 Jun 2012 07:55 PM PDT While it's a little later than expected, the free SMS emergency notification system has now gone live. Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) messages will be delivered to cell towers in affected areas, which will then broadcast them to all compatible devices in their range. While the system is looking to cover over 97 percent of the country, it's being gradually rolled out across carriers. Sprint and Verizon are both apparently ready for action and while we haven't heard about the status of T-Mobile or AT&T, the National Weather Service has stated that hundreds of smaller carriers haven't yet enabled the broadcasts. However, not all phones -- especially the more elderly bricks still in circulation -- will work with the system. To check whether your weighty cellular still passes muster, hit up the compatible device list at the CTIA link below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 29 Jun 2012 06:43 PM PDT Scientists from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University aren't keen on being wasteful -- that's why they've developed a toilet that uses 90% less water than other commodes and is capable of generating energy. Aptly named the No-Mix Vacuum Toilet, the porcelain pedestal's pot divides waste between two partitions -- one side for liquids, the other for solids -- and uses vacuum tech reminiscent of airline lavatories. Flushing fluid and solid wastes with 1 and 0.2 liters of H2O, respectively, the can will be able to route refuse to external processing facilities. Fertilizer ingredients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous would then be harvested from liquids. Similarly, methane can be coaxed from solids for conversion to electricity or as a replacement for other natural gasses. Two of the university's restrooms are slated to have the toilets installed in the near future, and the team expects the thrones to roll out worldwide within three years. [Thanks, Yuka] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 29 Jun 2012 05:58 PM PDT There are waterfall screens, but what if you'd like your display to be a little more... pristine? Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a display that hits soap bubbles with ultrasonic sound to change the surface. At a minimum, it can change how light glances off the soap film to produce the image. It gets truly creative when taking advantage of the soap's properties: a single screen is enough to alter the texture of a 2D image, and multiple screens in tandem can create what amounts to a slightly sticky hologram. As the soap is made out of sturdy colloids rather than the easily-burst mixture we all knew as kids, users won't have to worry about an overly touch-happy colleague popping a business presentation. There's a video preview of the technology after the jump; we're promised a closer look at the technology during the SIGGRAPH expo in August, but we don't yet know how many years it will take to find sudsy screens in the wild. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HTC teases something 'Incredible' for the US in July, we think a 4G LTE Droid might fit the bill Posted: 29 Jun 2012 05:08 PM PDT HTC has been leaving Verizon subscribers hanging on just when they would get the Droid Incredible 4G LTE ever since we saw it in New Orleans last month. The company just dropped a not-so-subtle hint that the wait is about to come to an end -- a Twitter update from HTC's US branch is promising some "special fun" coming to us next week that will be "incredible," which we're pretty sure doesn't involve refurb sales of the 2010 original. While the clue is still a bit cryptic, it lines up with internal documents pointing to a July 5th release. We'd advise against partying too hard on Independence Day if you want to line up early for Big Red's adaptation of the HTC One line. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Windows 8 renames Windows Explorer, File Explorer to help you find files instead Posted: 29 Jun 2012 04:32 PM PDT Come gather 'round PCs, wherever files roam, and admit Windows Explorer, simply has to go. And accept it that soon, your OS'll be Metro. If your file finding time is worth savin' -- then you better get used to File Explorer instead, for the times they are a-changin'. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 29 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there individually, we've gathered up an exhaustive listing of every phone and / or tablet getting the stamp of approval over the last week. Enjoy! Phones
Tablets and peripherals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apple lands preliminary ban against Samsung Galaxy Nexus in the US (update: search patent the key) Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:12 PM PDT It hasn't been Samsung's best week. Just days after Judge Lucy Koh granted a preliminary ban on sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, she's following it up with a similar granted request on the Galaxy Nexus. Judge Koh had already signaled that she thought Apple's lawsuit over four patents might have merit, but it's only now that she's deciding the potential damage is worth halting sales of the phone until there's a final trial verdict. Samsung will no doubt try to appeal the dispute, which centers on Android 4.0's slide-to-unlock mechanism (among other elements), but there's a lot more urgency here than with the outgoing Tab 10.1: the Galaxy Nexus is still a current-generation device, and just became Google's Android 4.1 phone flagship. Samsung's odds aren't great given that Apple has already used one of the patents to give HTC grief with its imports. Update: As patent lawsuit guru Florian Mueller found, the clincher for the ban was the patent on unified search that's linked to Siri. Although Judge Koh is inclined to believe Apple's view regarding all four patents, that search patent is the one whose violation would reportedly merit more than a slap on the wrist. She's similarly convinced that Apple's patents are legitimate and likely won't be dismissed anytime soon. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Visualized: The iPhone five years after launch Posted: 29 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT In case you somehow missed it, today is an important milestone in technology nostalgia: it's the fifth anniversary of the original iPhone's launch. We'll let you explore the memories of that insane day on your own terms, but ComScore has produced a visual breakdown of just how ownership has grown and shifted over the years. It's not hard to see that adoption has been on an accelerating curve, especially after the 2010 launch of the Retina display-toting iPhone 4: as of this past May, about three quarters of owners have either the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 4S. And the 2007 edition? Only two percent of all iPhone owners are still actively holding on to the aluminum-clad debut model, which suggests most would rather have Siri than reminisce. Whether you're a fan or have since moved on to a competitor, the chart is a reminder of just how far one of Steve Jobs' biggest projects has come. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Crowd-funded group building asteroid-mapping telescope, saving Earth (video) Posted: 29 Jun 2012 02:19 PM PDT Just when you're numbing to robot, zombie and nuclear apocalypse scenarios, some old-fashioned asteroid paranoia pops up to surprise you. The B612 Foundation, which gets funding from, well, anyone, has just announced plans to launch Sentinel, a space telescope which will wander the vacuum cataloging asteroids in our inner solar system. Their goal is to track asteroid orbits and predict large impacts up to 100 years in advance, giving us plenty of time to find a solution (or enjoy our final days). Construction doesn't start til late fall, with the launch expected in around five years, so it won't be any use in disproving the 2012 doomsday believers out there. You can find out more about the project and donate to the foundation at the source link, or jump past the break for a video explanation, Aerosmith not included.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recon goggles gain Facebook integration and augmented reality at Google I/O (hands-on video) Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:56 PM PDT Remember that Android SDK Recon Instruments finally unveiled for its heads-up display goggles? Well the company was showing off the fruits of its labor here at Google I/O 2012 with two demos -- specifically two-way Facebook integration and augmented reality using a Contour camera. In the first demo, the goggles are paired over Bluetooth with an app running on an Android phone. Each time you jump while snowboarding or skying, the accelerometer data from the goggles is sent to the handset which posts a graphic to Facebook showing the distance, height and duration of your flight. Any comments made to the post are then immediately relayed back to the heads-up display. The second demo uses a Contour camera attached to the goggles and paired via Bluetooth. As you look around, the output from the camera appears on the heads-up display augmented with labels showing the location and distance of the nearby train stations based on the compass and GPS data from the goggles. Pretty cool, eh? Check out the gallery below and hit the break for our two hands-on videos.
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| Rdio goes minimalist, tries another redesign on for size Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:46 PM PDT Finally get settled into the last Rdio redesign from just a few months ago? Well, we're afraid you've got a bit more adjusting to do. The streaming music service has now rolled out another sweeping visual overhaul of its website and desktop apps -- one that ditches the former iTunes-like appearance for a far more minimalist look, although all of the key elements remain in the same places as before. Naturally, that brings with it yet another software update for the desktop apps, although there's no word on any changes for its mobile apps just yet. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LG Optimus L7 review: a beautiful, entry-level Android 4.0 smartphone with LG's new UI 3.0 Posted: 29 Jun 2012 01:15 PM PDT Consider your last trip to the car dealership. Let's say you saved up and hit up BMW. While you might've looked at -- or even test driven -- the M3, there's a good chance that your better judgment (and your budget) led you to drive off of the lot with a 328i. Sure, it's only got a four-cylinder engine inside, but the car offers great handling and good gas mileage. Better yet, you didn't have to spend an atrocious amount of money to get behind the wheel. The same goes with mobile phones. While it's fun to dream of owning a One X, a Galaxy S III or an Optimus 4X HD, they're called superphones for a reason: they cater to power-hungry individuals with a fair amount of disposable income. Like supercars, they're designed to bring people into the store, even if shoppers ultimately leave with something else in hand. More InfoEnter the LG Optimus L7. Positioned at the higher end of the company's entry-level lineup, it aims to be the 328i of smartphones. Sure, no one's lining up to drool over it, but LG is aiming for this to be a practical choice with just enough elegance and pizzaz to keep consumers grinning. Of course, that sweet spot is difficult to achieve, and we've seen plenty of smartphone manufacturers miss the mark in attempting to balance performance and amenities with a palatable price. So, does the Optimus L7 rise to the challenge? We've spent the past week with it as our daily driver, and we're ready to make the call. Read on for the answer. Hardware
The LG Optimus L7 is undeniably handsome. It's the leader of the pack in the company's L-Style series, which places an emphasis on a modern, sophisticated appearance, and it certainly looks the part. In fact, much of the design philosophy can be traced back to the more expensive LG Prada 3.0: both have boxy faces with large black borders and subtle chrome-like trim. It's a similar story around back, where you'll find a textured plastic cover that's tapered to create a greater illusion of thinness (the handset actually measures 8.7mm thick). These beveled edges also help the Optimus L7 feel quite comfortable in hand. Naturally, there are differences. While the Prada 3.0 features only capacitive buttons up front, the Optimus L7 sports a physical home button that calls to mind the global Galaxy S II. On the rear, the horizontal camera pod struts a faux-brushed metal finish that nicely compliments the pinstripe enclosure. The design is both boring and beautiful. In a word, it's elegant. If the phone were rocking more powerful internals, it'd be known in the car world as a sleeper -- something you don't see coming, but that punishes you just the same. With only a single-core 1GHz CPU, however, you'll need to ground your expectations from the get-go. It performs respectably for its class, but as with the BMW M3, once you've had your hair blown back by a quad-core processor, you'll be forever screwed to draw the comparison. Much of the spec sheet tells a similar story, which includes an Adreno 200 GPU, a 5-megapixel camera and HSPA network speeds that top out at 7.2Mbps. As the benchmarks will later reveal, this is fine for casual usage, but the antiquated architecture will leave many wanting a little more horsepower. The Optimus L7 may not be the fastest phone in the world, but it sure does look pretty, and the same can be said of the display. Granted, it would be foolish to draw comparisons to some of the more premium options out there, but for a budget phone, LG nailed it with its 4.3-inch NOVA display at 800 x 480 resolution. Curiously, this isn't based on IPS technology like the company's other NOVA offerings; instead, it's based on the much more common TFT-LCD. Still, viewing angles are better than average, text is rather crisp, colors are vibrant, and when the brightness is maxed out, the phone is completely usable in direct sunlight. We did identify one glaring omission with respect to the display, however, and that's the lack of an ambient light sensor -- a feature so pervasive that it's often taken for granted in smartphones. As such, an auto-brightness setting is nonexistent and users will need to manually adjust the levels to suit their surroundings. LG has included a bit of a workaround for this -- which we'll discuss later in the software section -- but the correct decision would've been to include the ambient light sensor. Needless to say, we're hugely disappointed that LG deliberately excluded the feature. Take a quick tour of the phone's exterior and you'll find all of the usual amenities in their routine placements: the volume rocker is on the left, there's a micro-USB port on the bottom, both the power button and 3.5mm headphone jack are up top, and a speakerphone is on the rear. Try as you might, though, one thing you won't find is an access tab for removal of the back cover. That's not to say it's difficult to remove, but you'll need a decent set of fingernails to pry it free. Once inside, you'll be treated to some funky industrial stylings, along with access to the standard size SIM, an empty microSD slot and a removable 1,700mAh battery. You'll also find a pair of NFC connectors, as the antenna makes up part of the back cover. As it stands, the Optimus L7 comes in two flavors: one suitable for use in the United States and Canada, and another for Europe. Both models support quadband GSM / EDGE, but the HSPA radios are unique to each continent. For this reason, an unlocked L7 would be usable -- but not terribly enjoyable -- for global travelers. Other hardware-enabled features of the Optimus L7 include an FM radio, NFC with Android Beam, along with WiFi hotspot and WiFi Direct. The GPS hardware was able to find satellites rather quickly, and the compass performed very well once calibrated.
Performance and battery life As we've alluded to, the Optimus L7 is a bit of a slowpoke in the performance arena. This is largely due to the Qualcomm MSM7227A chipset, which is based on the Snapdragon S1 platform. For comparison, this is the same chip that's within phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus and HTC Desire V. The benchmarks reveal a similar story. While the L7 fared well in Quadrant, with an overall score on par with the dual-core Optimus 2X, this is largely in part due to its excellent performance in the I/O category. Other areas, such as CPU, memory and graphics reveal a phone that's more closely in line with the Nexus S -- which leads us to an interesting point. In real-world, day-to-day usage, the Nexus S with Android 4.0 feels more responsive than the Optimus L7. Granted, these phones are based on different architectures, but we couldn't shake the feeling that the Optimus L7's performance was in part hindered by LG's software. And if we're being honest, the company doesn't have a great track record when it comes to optimizing its Android skins for specific hardware architectures.
All things equal, Android 4.0 is a resource-intensive operating system that really demands beefier specs. It's sad to say, but anyone who insists on decent performance in Ice Cream Sandwich should look to a dual-core phone. We must emphasize that while overall performance isn't bad -- navigating through the launcher and working within basic apps like Gmail feel relatively snappy, for example -- you'll also need to deal with stuttering animations on the home screen, inconsistent touch response, a subpar browser experience and video capture that tops out at VGA. As a basic phone, the Optimus L7 fits the bill. For those wanting more, you'll need to pay for the privilege. Call quality on the Optimus L7 is middling at best. While other people's voices were free of distortion, even calls to landlines sounded muted and muddy. Similarly, our callers commented that while our words were clear, our voices sounded flat. Even with a strong signal, calls would intermittently cut out. It's difficult to determine whether the phone or the carrier is to blame for these hiccups, however, so we'll reserve judgment on that one. Our experience with the speaker phone was similar: callers tended to sound tinny. Unsurprisingly, people told us the call quality over the speaker was distant, and some had to strain at times to make sense of our words. With a 1,700mAh Li-Ion cell and just a single-core processor, it's no great surprise that battery life is one of the better aspects of the Optimus L7. In our standard rundown test, the phone lasted six hours and 40 minutes, which is solid, but unspectacular. Our real-world tests yielded much better results, and those with modest usage habits should have no trouble getting 36 hours or more off a single charge. Battery life can be extended even further with LG's power saver software, a feature which kicks in at a user-set threshold to more conservatively manage brightness, radios and data settings. For our part, we never felt compelled to enable the feature, and were still able to get an impressive 54 hours from a single charge with medium usage. Software Along with Ice Cream Sandwich, LG threw an interesting twist into the Optimus L7 known as UI 3.0. With the new software, the company set out to introduce new functionality in an unobtrusive manner, and to that extent, it's succeeded. Granted, UI 3.0 is still a departure from stock Ice Cream Sandwich, but the look is now much cleaner than LG's prior efforts. Immediately apparent is the new lock screen, which allows users to swipe in any direction to unlock the device. Similarly, the lock screen brings quick access to four customizable apps, along with three different clocks for the choosing. On the home screen, Google's omnipresent search bar can be found up top, which has been customized with an "add" button that gives users another way to populate their five home screens with apps, widgets and different wallpapers. While the dock includes only four icons by default, you'll be able to drag in a fifth application and create folders, which nicely replicates the functionality of Ice Cream Sandwich. Many other changes are less visible, accessible only through the settings menu. Here, users can choose between different transition effects and enable an infinite carousel of the home screens. In fact, the only additional feature that we'd like to see is the ability to increase or decrease the amount of home screens. Remember how we complained about the lack of an ambient light sensor? Well, there's a partial solution. One feature that LG's added as a legitimate improvement over Ice Cream Sandwich is the quick settings menu in the notification tray. It's customizable, but by default, users may control sound, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. Although it must be manually enabled, a handy toggle also exists to switch between low, medium and full brightness -- nothing short of a life saver. We're also happy to see that quick access to the settings menu remains in the notification tray. The launcher itself is more or less on par with Ice Cream Sandwich, which requires users to scroll horizontally between apps and widgets. LG has also added a downloads section, which is fine if you need quick access to an app that you've just installed. This will cause confusion to some users, though, as downloaded files won't appear here, and instead must be accessed through the downloads app. Within the launcher, infinite scrolling is enabled by default, and we genuinely appreciate that a user won't be immediately kicked over into the widgets section when they reach the end of the apps list. Another interesting addition -- and somewhat of a nod to CyanogenMod -- is the ability to more tightly pack the launcher screen with a 5 x 6 grid of icons. You'll also discover a gear icon in the launcher, but instead of providing access to the settings menu, it opens an environment that allows users to rearrange their icons, create folders and even delete unwanted apps. The only quirk about the launcher is its inability to automatically sort apps. So, if you're the type who prefers your launcher in alphabetical order, you'll inevitably be doing a bit of rearranging each time you install a new application. As for the software itself, we received an unbranded version of the Optimus L7 directly from LG, so naturally your experience may vary if you purchase the phone through a carrier. While many of the apps can't be uninstalled, they can be disabled, which will cause them to not appear in the launcher, although they'll continue to occupy storage space on your phone. This includes Application Manager, a utility to add live wallpapers and a task manager, or uninstall some bundled apps; Cell Broadcast, which allows you to send and receive mass alert messages to other cell broadcast-enabled phones; LG Tag +, which lets you configure and write location-based settings to NFC tags; RemoteCall Service, an app that grants tech support reps full control over your phone; and SmartShare for WiFi Direct connections. Other apps that can be disabled -- but not uninstalled -- include two apps from Yahoo! called Finance and News, along with a voice recorder utility. As for pre-loaded software that can be uninstalled, you'll find Memo for notes, Polaris Office, Weather from Yahoo! and SmartWorld, which is LG's own marketplace for apps, ringtones and wallpapers. Camera Put simply, the camera on the Optimus L7 seriously underwhelms. While a 5-megapixel sensor seems at home in an entry-level smartphone, even the most passive photographers are going to experience a letdown with this phone. The camera delivers lifeless, unnatural colors, and in distant shots, it's unable to capture anything beyond the most basic of details. Closeup snapshots fared a bit better in this respect, which is assisted by the touch-to-focus software, but you can forget about artistic effects such as bokeh. The camera's low-light performance is abysmal, and even reasonably well-lit indoor scenes brought about an unusable amount of blur and noise. Naturally, the built-in flash was able to compensate in close-up scenes, but it's altogether useless for subjects more than a few feet away. The front-facing VGA camera is thoroughly miserable, delivering dark, muted and inaccurate colors, along with perceivable jagged edges. Two software features that seem nice on the surface enable users to capture both panorama scenes and a quick burst of six successive shots. In the case of the former, while the software is both easy and reasonably accurate, the results are less-than-VGA quality. Likewise, users are similarly limited to VGA resolution in quick burst mode.
Video capture on the Optimus L7 doesn't fare much better. While colors are surprisingly more accurate within video mode, the clips have a jelly-like quality and are likewise limited to VGA resolution. Those capturing video indoors would be wise to use the persistent LED light as an auto-focus assist, as the camera will otherwise struggle mightily with the scene. Wrap-up As much as we wanted to like the Optimus L7, we must strongly urge those who want an entry-level smartphone to look elsewhere. It's quite a shame, really, because LG's design efforts hinted at something so much greater. We genuinely appreciate the phone's display, handy NFC capabilities, excellent battery life and even its software, which features LG's UI 3.0 layered on top of Android 4.0. Unfortunately, that's where the party ends. The Optimus L7 is a sluggish performer that is further hindered by unnecessary animations and transition effects in the UI. While that alone wouldn't qualify as a deal-breaker in the budget category, its slow data transmission speeds, incompatible trans-Atlantic 3G bands, woeful camera, lack of an ambient light sensor, subpar voice quality and flaky touch response all point to a regrettable purchase. As it stands, if your budget dictates your next smartphone, look instead toward the HTC One V, Sony Xperia U and Samsung Galaxy S Advance for more compelling options. Similarly, if you're able to avoid the contract subsidies and go SIM-free, the Galaxy Nexus is now more affordable than ever. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5pm ET! Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:55 PM PDT Regular time, regular place. Wait, what? For such a hectic and crazy week as this, it's equally astounding to think that we'll be doing the Engadget Mobile Podcast the usual way -- Friday afternoon at 5pm. Just like last week, this is definitely one you don't want to miss: Google announced a couple things, RIM broke a few hearts and we reviewed a few devices. Tune in and enjoy Myriam and Brad waxing poetic about the wild week that was wireless! June 29, 2012 5:00 PM EDT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cracking the Nexus Q, Google's 25-watt amplified obsession Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT "We're missing a nut," says a bemused Matt Hershenson, former Danger founder and now Google's director of hardware for Android, pointing at a vacant spot on an exploded photo of the Nexus Q. Its parts are strewn out across a white background, perfectly arranged in a linear pattern that starkly contrasts with the spherical nature of the thing. "Wow, you're right," agrees Joe Britt, engineering director at Google and another former Danger founder. "It's like the illuminators, you know, the monks who used to draw up the codexes." Hershenson picks up the reference without missing a beat: "Everybody needs to make at least one mistake. Nothing can be perfect." That goes against everything else we've been learning from the pair, who spend 45 minutes walking us through every detail of what went into the development of the new Nexus Q. They worked hand-in-hand with engineers and designers and materials experts, ensuring everything from the bearings to the LEDs were, well, perfect. But there is one thing, something larger, that many have said is a crucial flaw in this illuminated device: pricing. Will people pay $299 for a high-concept, low-functionality social media streamer? Join us after the break for how the Q came to be, and why Britt and Hershenson think it will be a success.
Inside that spherical exterior is a decidedly more square dual-core TI OMAP 4460 processor CPU paired with 1GB of RAM, the same basic power behind the Galaxy Nexus. That's matched with 16GB of flash storage, but that storage is (at least out of the box) inaccessible. This is a purely streaming device, connecting over 10/100 Ethernet or dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi to pull media only from the cloud -- and, even more restrictively, only from Google Play. Even though you start playback from your phone or tablet, the data must always go directly through the Q, and it's always pulled from Google's servers. Even the concept of "pinning" something for offline playback later is absent here. "Fundamentally, this is the way content is changing," says Hershenson. "There are a lot of people consuming data this way. YouTube is coming from the cloud in the first place. we're not doing something out of convention with regards to the information being in the cloud, and the use cases it enables is just awesome. The social aspect... those kinds of things are really exploiting the fact that it's in the cloud."
But, Britt is quick to point out that "this is just the initial feature set." As we've already seen, the Q is eminently hackable, a point that its two proud parents return to frequently. That "initial feature set" is admittedly limited, but Britt hopes the "collective imagination of the community" will continue to do amazing things to expand the functionality of the device. He is, after all, an evangelist for the Accessory Development Kit and the kind of person who has all sorts of naughty ideas for what could be done with the ADK demo hardware given out at I/O this year. He's also proud to point out the Arduino bootloader that's lurking within. What that community won't be able to do, at least not easily, is expand the hardware, which is perhaps partly why the two obsessed over the Q's design. The alloy base, for example, is intentionally heavy, both acting as a heat sink for that OMAP chip and also preventing the Q from rolling off the back of your entertainment center when you plug in high-gauge, low-impedance speaker wire. The top half, which can be spun about to quickly adjust volume and is ringed by 32 RGB LEDs (plus a 33rd on top), was originally going to be made of stainless steel but, due largely to cost concerns, is instead made of plastic. But, a weighted metal ring is inset within and the whole assembly rides on stainless steel bearings, conspiring to give it a higher-spec feel than its polymer composition would otherwise impart. It's a custom class-D amplifier in there, nestled dangerously close to an integrated switching power supply, a recipe for noise if not handled properly. "We didn't want a wall wart," says Britt, but we shouldn't worry about interference. "The same guy who designed the amp designed the power supply." That amp is one of the more curious, and honestly controversial aspects of the device, but it was a fundamental part of its design, says Hershenson. "The sound this is capable of delivering is best realized on bookshelf speakers. A lot of powered speakers are fine, but the typical sound source is a PC, right? It's not quite as high-fidelity in the first place."
That amp, and all the engineering required to make this thing sound genuinely good, surely has a lot to do with why the Nexus Q costs as much as it does. We have to imagine the majority of Q users will skip the amp and rely on the TOSLINK or HDMI outputs for digital audio, thus bypassing all that attention to detail altogether. Plus, we couldn't help but question the merit of having such a high-fidelity audio source that can exclusively play compressed audio streamed from the internet. Is lossless playback coming? "That would be a good idea," says Britt, saying it not in an "I hadn't thought of that" kind of way but with more in a "Wait and see" sort of intonation. "The hardware's totally capable." Another thing driving up that cost is the geographic heritage of the device itself: designed and produced right here in the great US of A. This is an aspect that Google barely mentioned during its keynote unveiling, but is an important point at a time when so many are criticizing Apple for the handling of its partnership with Foxconn and thinking a lot more closely about where our gadgets are made. However, we're asked to not read too much into any implications here. "I don't think that we're philosophically set," says Hershenson, when asked about the reasoning behind the domestic nature of the Q. Instead, it seems to have been more a question of optimizing the design and engineering process, which took a little over a year. Having partners locally meant they could get hardware revisions to evaluate the very next day, not next week. It seems to have worked well here, but again it sadly isn't something we can necessarily expect to see in whatever comes next. "We have to look at what's appropriate for each product," says Britt. And presumably what comes next depends a lot on the success of the Q -- not the success of the engineering, of which we have little doubt, but rather the success of the marketing and consumer perception. As of now, the biggest question asked about the thing, even by ourselves, is why folks would pay $300 for a device that is less functional than a $100 Apple TV. Far more beautiful and with much higher quality analog output, sure, but that's largely meaningless for anyone who sticks an HDMI cable in the back.
It's the social aspect, the ability for anyone to interact with the device and add their own music to a playlist, that Google is making the most fuss about here. Of course, that "anyone" should come with a very large asterisk, pointing to a disclaimer stating: "Anyone with an Android-powered device and their own collection of music on Google Play." Even should you have an appropriate number of anyones among your gaggle of friends, there's still another question. How often will you legitimately get enough of those anyones together to really make use of everything this has to offer? Google does every Friday, having something of a social mixer with multiple Q devices, each hooked to analog speakers, scattered about for all of their anyones to interact with. That sounds like the perfect storm for a Nexus Q -- a situation that typical users will have the opportunity to experience far less frequently. So, then, is this a niche or halo device, expected to be fondly remembered but not frequently purchased? Definitely not -- Britt and Hershenson are both adamant that there's enough general appeal for this thing to be a mass-market success. "This is a device that sets a precedent," says Britt, "but it isn't like a concept car. We built it to sell it... This is the first of many." We have to imagine that exactly how many is at least partially related to how well this thing sells. And that, of course, is largely up to you. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IRL: Bose SoundLink, DropCopy and Worldmate Gold Posted: 29 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.  Happy Friday, folks. This week in real life, Brian invests in the Bose SoundLink after his pet rabbit destroyed his previous setup (no, really), while our own Andy Bowen explains why he'd rather use the DropCopy app than DropBox, much less AirDrop. And Darren, who racked up frequent flier miles this week traveling out to Google I/O, details the virtues of Worldmate over TripIt. Bunnies! Apps versus apps versus more apps. All that, just past the break. Bose SoundLink The Bose SoundLink seemed an ideal solution, a standalone speaker that can be synced to multiple Bluetooth devices, and that's small enough to cart around. It's not particularly light, but it can fit in my messenger bag, and is a lot easier to pick up than a standard home stereo system. Granted, it's not quite as ritzy as a multiple-room system, but despite my love of music, I'm not really trying to impress anyone with my audio setup. The Bose has big enough sound to fill the rooms of my apartment. It's a warm and full sound, and breathes a lot more life into those Thelonious Monk records than the computer speakers I've been relying on. The whole thing's pretty easy to set up, and being able to play Spotify tracks off of my iPhone the minute I get home is a nice bonus. I've run into a few syncing problems on occasion, but it's nothing that can't be remedied by holding down the Bluetooth button atop the speaker. Meanwhile, the range is good, but not great -- my dream of pushing music from my house into the back yard is often met with hiccups in the stream. Those minor issues aside, this thing has been an awesome addition to apartment living. Since I picked it up, not a day's gone by that I haven't used it -- and that includes recent trips to Boston and LA, when I kept the speaker stashed in my luggage. -- Brian Heater DropCopy Ideally, I'd like DropCopy to chug along in the background (as it does on OS X). Manually launching the app every time I'm in need of a transfer? That gets annoying. I'd also welcome the ability to share those bits and bytes with my Macbook Pro courtesy of my data plan, and not be limited to a local WiFi network. Cloud apps definitely have the advantage here. Of course, thanks to Apple's third-party app regulations, internal files aren't accessible through DropCopy anyway, and vice versa -- you won't find an "export to DropCopy" option. There are a few ways to sort through the files that you're storing in DropCopy on your iOS device, but other than that there's really no organization at all. Just one folder with many, many files. A falling star perhaps? This app has a temperament: it's 100 percent dependable, 90 percent of the time. -- Andy Bowen Worldmate Gold For those who aren't familiar with the app, it's designed to digest travel information via email. Just shoot over any email with confirmation details (a flight, car rental, hotel booking, etc.) and it'll update your trip and any connected calendars. The Gold edition also keeps tabs on your upcoming flights, alerting you to gate changes, time changes and the like as they're reported -- push notifications here work excellently, except when information isn't delivered to Worldmate from the airlines fast enough. Granted, that's not a Worldmate problem. Overall, it's remarkably useful for keeping tabs on a schedule that involves well over 80 flights per year (read: mine). But, I do have a few bones to pick. For one, it didn't recognize legitimate Delta flight information for a flight that was 9.5 months out (but flights happening within the next six months were added sans fuss). Two, it rarely understands atypical emails. For example, your casual email conversation about a Homeaway.com rental will probably confuse Worldmate's processing engine, again forcing a manual entry. And lastly, it requires you to forward each piece of your trip to "trips@worldmate.com." TripIt, in contrast, simply looks in your inbox for you and makes updates as new email confirmations arrive -- that's way, way slicker. Of course, TripIt requires a $49 annual subscription for most of its niceties, so for $2.99, I'm more than willing to forgive Worldmate Gold's minor shortcomings. -- Darren Murph | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jelly Bean port passes the butter to the Galaxy S III, ROM-flashing required Posted: 29 Jun 2012 11:47 AM PDT It took only one day for devs to unleash Jelly Bean 4.1 from its server confines and out into the eager underbelly of Android's community. And those enterprising hackers haven't wasted any time getting that buttered up OS running on Galaxy Nexus handsets (yes, even for Verizon subs). Now, good news is also on the way for any consumers who forsook the pure Google path in favor of Samsung's TouchWizzed way. That's right, a (mostly) working port has been made available to Galaxy S III (I9300) users that should see some of that point upgrade's features successfully implemented. Feel free to take it for a test run if you're skilled in the ways of flashing, but bear in mind you'll lose access to the camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, storage and audio. It goes without saying that this build is far from the perfect ROM for a daily driver, but if you're curious to check it out first-hand, there's no harm in trying. Hit up the source below for the step-by-step how-to. |
I have what is likely a fairly unique problem: a pet rabbit whose overwhelming sense of curiosity, ever-growing incisors and insatiable appetite for electronics wires rendered my last sound system useless. I've been in-between stereo gear since then, largely relying on a tiny pair of computer speakers for sound -- a less-than-adequate solution, even in a New York City apartment. The question, then, is how to fill the small (by non-NYC standards) space on a reasonable budget, while using this as an opportunity to cut cords in the process.
DropCopy has quickly made its way onto my top 10 favorite apps list. Part of that being because it cost me not one penny -- well, the lite version anyway -- but mostly because of its amazing usefulness. Back in 2011, I was wildly disappointed to discover that AirDrop seemingly wasn't making its way onto iOS devices. Actually, I may have been more confused than disappointed. I'd been waiting on a native app like that for the sole purpose of quickly sharing URLs and text files with my iPhone 4S. Unless iOS 6 really surprises us all, I'll probably stick with DropCopy for my data sharing needs. For one, it's generally much quicker than AirDrop. Yeah, I know, DropBox and SugarSync accomplish the same task, but it's much faster sharing a single URL or message with DropCopy rather than having to produce a text file and toss that sucker into the cloud. DropCopy's shining star? Speed, obviously. No dialogues, accounts or confirmations. It's an IP address, drag-and-drop straight shot.
I've actually been using Worldmate for some time now, but I only upgraded to the Gold option recently -- right around the time it went on sale in the App Store for $2.99 (it's usually $9.99). Unlike so many other travel / itinerary managers, this one requires no yearly subscription. You pay once, and it'll work magic on whatever trips you have coming up. For one, I love that Worldmate Gold works 
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