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Monday, July 19, 2010

It's a Trap! Atom Corral Is a Major Step Toward Quantum Computing

Source: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-07/its-trap

This maze of electrodes, known as a surface-electrode ion trap, brings us closer to building quantum computers—that is, computers that could manipulate the quantum-mechanical states of atoms to process data millions of times as fast as today's most powerful supercomputers do.

Whereas computers now use transistors to crunch 0s and 1s, a quantum computer could theoretically perform dozens of calculations simultaneously by zapping charged subatomic particles, called ions, with a laser.

One of the first steps in building a functional quantum computer is trapping the ions in order to zap them. That's why physicists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have created this ion trap, a web of electrodes that produces an electric field to hold the ions in place. Once in place, the ions hover just above the trap's surface. Project physicist Jason Amini says there's still much work to do. For example, he and his group would like to build a trap that can hold hundreds of ions instead of the two or three it currently manages. If they can pull it off, the traps could outperform conventional computers on certain tasks within the next five years.

Verizon's LTE rollout is imminent, computers updated for 4G SIM cards

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/18/verizons-lte-rollout-is-imminent-computers-updated-for-4g-sim/

We just got some alleged (but very convincing) internal documents on Verizon's 4G plans, and it's mostly stuff we've already heard -- 5-12Mbps down, aircards before smartphones, and plans to roll out in 30 cities in 2010. That said, documents dated this week show the company's still on track to serve up 100 million connections by the end of the year, and a pair of independent tipsters have just sent us pics of Verizon computers ready and waiting for those precious LTE SIM cards. Furthermore, the docs also claim that the planned LTE isn't just fast, it's got a lag-destroying 30ms latency too, and fans of wider wireless computing can expect 4G tablets of some sort in 2011 as well. See all the goodies in our gallery below.

Gallery: Verizon Wireless alleged internal 4G plans

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Verizon's LTE rollout is imminent, computers updated for 4G SIM cards originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First official Droid 2 pictures spotted in teaser site code?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/18/first-official-droid-2-pictures-spotted-in-teaser-site-code/

Astute reader Dominic was just minding his business, hunting for hints in the Droid Does website source code, when what should he allegedly discover but an entire Droid 2 spread inside a Shockwave Flash file. To our knowledge these may be the first official images of the Motorola A955, though of course we've already seen it a number of times before. We just need Verizon to leak an official announcement with price and release date now -- we're hearing August 23rd -- and perhaps a nice Hollywood trailer to round things out. See a larger version of Dominic's discovery right after the break.

Continue reading First official Droid 2 pictures spotted in teaser site code?

First official Droid 2 pictures spotted in teaser site code? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:! 57:00 ED T. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Mars 2 teases superpowered dual GeForce GTX 480 goodness

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/18/asus-mars-2-teases-superpowered-dual-geforce-gtx-480-goodness/

We'll be honest with you, we thought the GTX 480 was finally a graphics core too damn large and power-hungry to get the dual-GPU treatment. ASUS, however, is making us think again. Imagery has emerged of a Mars 2 (or II, if you're into outdated numbering schemes) reference board that fits two 480s on its densely populated surface, and is fed by not one, not two, but three 8-pin auxiliary power connectors. Back when Galaxy showed off a dual-GTX 470 prototype at Computex a month ago, we deemed it an unreasonable proposition -- in terms of power draw, heat dissipation, and cost -- but apparently those Taiwanese focus groups are really into their extravagantly overpowered video cards. We suspect if and when this Mars 2 hits retail it'll do so in a highly exclusive fashion, like its predecessor, and anticipate the unveiling of its cooler -- which is likely to be either the biggest or best engineered one we've seen yet.

ASUS Mars 2 teases superpowered dual GeForce GTX 480 goodness originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 22:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/windows-phone-7-in-depth-preview/

It's been a long road, hasn't it? Well, in some respects, it hasn't -- in fact, it's only been about two years since development of Windows Phone 7 as we know it today kicked off -- but when you consider that this product will be replacing Windows Mobile 6.5, that puts things in proper perspective. In fact, even the very latest maintenance releases of good ol' WinMo are based on the same rickety underpinnings as version 5.0 was way back in 2005, at a time when WVGA smartphone displays were science fiction, 4G networks were a good two Gs beyond the average American's comprehension, and Engadget looked like this. Nowadays, it's a very different game; eight year-olds have access to mobile email, your phone understands German, and "Yelp" is a verb (okay, actually Yelp is a verb). Indeed, mobile devices are the new PCs -- and companies like Apple and Google are dominating an industry that had once been practically handed to Microsoft on a silver platter. No one -- either inside or outside of Redmond -- is arguing that change isn't desperately (and quickly) needed, because it simply isn't enough to dominate the desktop anymore.

In light of all that, you could call Windows Phone 7 a desperation move to become relevant in the pocket again. Call it whatever you like, but regardless, brand loyalty isn't going to save this product -- it simply has to be good to sell. Scratch that; it actually has to be nearly flawless in a world where iOS 4 and Gingerbread play. Microsoft still has a few months before it intends to get the first volley of Windows Phone 7-based products to the marketplace, but we've recently been provided with reference hardware -- a not-for-retail Samsung called "Taylor" that's closely modeled on the Symbian-based i8910HD -- to get a feel for where they're at as the clock ticks down. Is this shaping up to be a killer platform for the next generation of high-end smartphones? And more importantly, can it win customers? Read on for our first take.

Gallery: Windows Phone 7 preview

Gallery: Windows Phone 7 interface shots

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon FiveSpot CDMA / GSM mobile WiFi hotspot leaks out

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/verizon-fivespot-cdma-gsm-mobile-wifi-hotspot-leaks-out/

Looks like Verizon's about to take its mobile data game worldwide -- we just got this snap of the "FiveSpot," a "global ready" mobile WiFi hotspot . That certainly sounds like a hybrid CDMA / UMTS mobile hotspot to us, which makes sense -- Verizon already sells a bunch of world phones with dual CDMA and GSM radios, so a globetrotting riff on the MiFi fits right in. Based on the name, we'd guess this supports five simultaneous users, but that's a guess. No idea when this will hit or how much it might cost, but we'll keep our eyes open -- check the box shot after the break.

[Thanks, RWN]

Continue reading Verizon FiveSpot CDMA / GSM mobile WiFi hotspot leaks out

Verizon FiveSpot CDMA / GSM mobile WiFi hotspot leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon's 4G LTE SIM in the wild

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/verizons-4g-lte-sim-in-the-wild/

It's still baking our noodles to think about a Verizon device using a SIM on American soil -- but sure enough, those cards allegedly set up in Big Red's systems are floating around in the wild. What you're looking at here is a SIM that will slot into Verizon's LTE-enabled 4G devices when they launch later this year (hence the big "4G" logo on there), and yes, they look just like the SIMs you've been using for the last two decades on carriers around the world. The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems.

[Thanks, RWN]

Gallery: Verizon's 4G LTE SIM in the wild

Verizon's 4G LTE SIM in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel's 3.2GHz hexacore i7-970 now shipping

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/intels-3-2ghz-hexacore-i7-970-now-shipping/

Just this once, DigiTimes has turned out to be spot on with its prognostication. The six-core Core i7-970 rumor we heard earlier this month has now transmogrified into a retail product, and just as promised, it brings most of the goodies of the sublime i7-980X at a moderately more affordable $899 price point. Based on the same 32nm Gulftown architecture as its costlier brother, the 970 will run at 3.2GHz by default, though presumably it too will be able to crank up speeds using Intel's Turbo Boost. Aside from that, you get a healthy 12MB of on-chip cache and the standard triple-channel DDR3 memory controller. UK speed freaks can order one up as well now, clearly a tiny bit ahead of Intel itself making things official, so we'd advise checking with your nearest super-CPU purveyors in case they too have received some early units of this multithreaded code cruncher.

[Thanks, Polytonic]

Intel's 3.2GHz hexacore i7-970 now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony restricts stereoscopic PS3 games to 720p 3D

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/sony-restricts-stereoscopic-ps3-games-to-720p-3d/

Sorry, fellow gamers, we're out of luck if we want to play stereoscopic PS3 titles in their full high definition glory -- Joystiq reports that Sony guidelines won't allow for 1080p 3D. As we discovered in April, the goal is to run even native 1080p content at a lower 720p resolution when splitting the image in twain, allowing enough processing overhead for a smooth 60fps framerate and likely reducing eyestrain. Mind you, it's not like there are many occasions when you'd have cause to complain -- even in two dimensions, native 1080p titles on modern consoles are few and far between. Exempt from the specification are 3D Blu-ray movies, which run at a slower (but larger) 1080p24 by default, so rest assured that when you're being tortured with Clash of the Titans repeat viewings, you'll see every glorious detail.

Sony restricts stereoscopic PS3 games to 720p 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes first flight with crew on board

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-completes-first-flight-with-crew/

It still has a few more key hurdles to cross, but it looks like Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (a.k.a. the VSS Enterprise) is remaining on track for its first commercial flight sometime next year. The latest milestone is the spacecraft's first flight with a crew on board, which occurred on July 15th at Virgin Galactic's usual base of operations, the Mojave Air and Space Port. As with previous flights, however, SpaceShipTwo remained attached to the VMS Eve "mothership" for the duration of the flight, but it did stay aloft for more than six hours as the crew (including test pilots Peter Siebold, Michael Alsbury) went through a range of tests. Still no word on exactly when SpaceShipTwo will see its first solo flight but, barring any change in plans, that should be the next flight that takes place.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes first flight with crew on board originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android versus iPhone live multiplayer gaming made possible in SGN's Skies of Glory

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/android-versus-iphone-live-multiplayer-gaming-made-possible-in-s/

Shocking as this might sound, there are no only a few games in which iPhone and Android users can go at each other in live multiplayer mode. Exploiting this vast void is Social Gaming Network, whose Skies of Glory aerial dogfighting title has been ported to Android (2.0 and above) while retaining the ability to communicate with iOS devices over WiFi, 3G or Bluetooth connections. Frankly, we can't think of a better game to get the cross-platform multiplayer movement going: fAndroids and iPhoneys gunning each other down while talking smack to themselves should prove therapeutic for both parties. On a more serious note, given the tireless growth that both platforms are showing, this kind of thing should hopefully tend toward being the rule rather than the exception.

Update: Our readers have sagely reminded us that Raging Thunder 2 and Homerun Battle 3D have done the cross-platform dance already. The more the merrier, we say.

Continue reading Android versus iPhone live multiplayer gaming made possible in SGN's Skies of Glory

Android versus iPhone live multiplayer gaming made possible in SGN's Skies of Glory originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS UL-series laptops surface at e-tailers with Core i3 ULV processor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/asus-ul-series-laptops-surface-at-e-tailers-with-core-i3-ulv-pro/

If the pint-sized ASUS laptop above looks a wee bit familiar, it's because you've seen it before -- the 12-inch UL20FT is basically a refreshed UL20A, but with the surprisingly elusive Core i3 ULV guts. The UL20FT appeared at ExcaliberPC this weekend, while its Optimus-equipped big brother appears destined for Amazon; in a slight change of plans, both feature the 1.2GHz Core i3-330UM processor. While the $600 UL20FT is a solid netbook alternative, the $900 UL80JT has double the capacity (500GB) and memory (4GB) plus an optical disc drive, and if our review of its doppelganger is any indication, the 14-inch switchable graphics machine will have stellar battery life. Still, we can't help feel a little bummed by the lack of the Core i7-640UM we were originally promised.

[Thanks, David T.]

ASUS UL-series laptops surface at e-tailers with Core i3 ULV processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sunday, July 18, 2010

Real Time Farms is a User-Supported, Local Farmers Market Guide [Food]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5589590/real-time-farms-is-a-user+supported-local-farmers-market-guide

Real Time Farms is a User-Supported, Local Farmers Market Guide We've featured one local food guide on the web, but Real Time Farms takes it a step further. You can not only view local market listings, but also a list of what's available from a given vendor and photos of available produce.

The site is very community-based, with most of it being kept up by local food enthusiasts, so your city's mileage may vary. Obviously, the more you contribute (and spread the word), the more useful the site will become—you can share geotagged photos of your last visit, add or edit information about local markets and farms, and view when certain markets are open over the course of the week.

The site's fairly young, and not all cities have a ton of information—if you want to see the site's potential, plug in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the city in which the site was founded—but I searched a few other cities and found at least a small database of markets in the area. If you're already pretty into the local scene, you may already know a lot about the local markets, but you can always contribute data so your area is stocked with more information for those less seasoned. Head on over there to check it out, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Real Time Farms [via The Kitchn]

Panasonic Lumix LX5 outed by tech support page, improvements are black and white

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/17/panasonic-lumix-lx5-outed-by-tech-support-page-improvements-are/

Panasonic may be pushing Micro Four Thirds tech these days, but that doesn't mean it's forgotten about the pocketable high-end -- in fact, full spec sheets and pictures have just leaked from the company's technical support website, detailing the unannounced latest in the Lumix LX lineup. The 10.1 megapixel DMC-LX5 doesn't have any revolutionary new features, sadly, but it certainly brings the 2008 LX3 predecessor up to spec in nearly every way, with a longer 3.8x optical zoom lens by Leica, 12,800 ISO mixed-pixel sensitivity and a familiar-sounding AVCHD Lite 720p video recording mode. Slightly heavier due to a larger 1250mAh battery, the camera supports SDXC memory cards this time round, has an anti-glare coating on the 3-inch LCD and thankfully replaces those bulky breakout component cables with a mini-HDMI out. There's also an optional electronic viewfinder and a jog dial on the back, but we don't want to ruin all your fun unearthing these gems; peruse the specs yourself at our source link.

Panasonic Lumix LX5 outed by tech support page, improvements are black and white originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone DSLR: the next generation (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/17/iphone-dslr-the-next-generation-video/

Everything you know about awkwardly attaching SLR lenses to iPhones is wrong. This is how you do it. What started out as a quick and less-than-perfect mod of OWLE's Bubo iPhone mount by one Jeremy Salvador (pictured above) has turned into a collaboration between production company Vid-Atlantic and OWLE itself on a more finely tuned, iPhone 4-friendly prototype that delivers some truly impressive results. Sadly, the actual iPhone 4 version of the rig won't be available for a while yet, but you can get an idea of what will be possible with it after the break.

Continue reading iPhone DSLR: the next generation (video)

iPhone DSLR: the next generation (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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