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Saturday, April 21, 2012

WPC updates Qi standard, increases inductive charging distance to 40mm

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/20/wpc-updates-qi-standard-increasing-inductive-charging-distance/

It seems that Power Matt just got a bit more, er, powerful. The Wireless Power Consortium announced today that it's improved the Qi inductive-charging standard to "include longer range magnetic resonance wireless charging." Effectively, this means charging stations that are up to spec will be able to transmit up to 5 watts of power from distances of 40mm (up from 5mm, previously) to Qi-enabled devices. The WPC says it's ideal for pushing power through the likes tables and counter tops, and that it currently has 12 types of compatible transmitters ready for action. All in all, it certainly seems like a solid step for finally getting rid of all that cable clutter at your workstation -- especially if it'll rid users of those less-than-pretty looking charging bases. Maybe a last-minute add-on to your Uppleva, IKEA?

Continue reading WPC updates Qi standard, increases inductive charging distance to 40mm

WPC updates Qi standard, increases inductive charging ! distance to 40mm originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, April 19, 2012

ASUS to sell pink and gold Zenbooks in the UK, where good taste is alive and well

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/asus-pink-and-gold-zenbooks-uk/

You know what ASUS' Zenbooks needed, right? Like, even more than a cushier keyboard or Ivy Bridge refresh? The Malibu Beach House treatment, obviously. For those of you in dreary 'ol Blighty waiting for an Ultrabook with tropical coloring (but no sequins), take note: ASUS is going to start selling its candy-colored, oh-so classy Zenbooks in the UK. Specifically, that includes the 13-inch UX31 in hot pink, and the 11.6-inch UX21 in Rose Gold. Both will be available by the end of April, with the UX31 available through PC World and Curry's, and the UX21 through Littlewoods and Argos. Find the PR below, and pay no mind to the lady editor behind the curtain doing a facepalm.

Continue reading ASUS to sell pink and gold Zenbooks in the UK, where good taste is alive and well

ASUS to sell pink and gold Zenbooks in the UK, where good taste is alive and well originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mozilla: Brazilians to get first phones running Boot to Gecko

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/mozilla-says-brazilians-to-get-first-phones-running-boot-to-gecko/

We got to fiddle with Mozilla's HTML5-based mobile OS, Boot to Gecko, for the first time a couple of months ago, and found it to be a promising platform, but one that wasn't ready for prime-time. However, it appears that Brazilians on Telefonica will get the first crack at buying BtG phones, and the handsets are set to go on sale by the end of this year or in early 2013. The good news -- for our South American readers, at least -- came from Gary Kovacs, Mozilla's CEO, who made the announcement in São Paulo today. Unfortunately, Kovacs failed to say what kind of hardware will run the web-based OS, but Pablo Larrieux, the chief innovation officer of Telefonica Vivo, indicated that the handsets will be unlocked and priced to move: they'll cost as much as a featurephone.

[Thanks, Henrique]

[Brazil flag photo via Shutterstock.]

Mozilla: Brazilians to get first phones running Boot to Gecko originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for ! use of f eeds.

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Samsung's Pro Compact Cameras Get Juiced With Wi-Fi [Cameras]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5903334/samsungs-pro-compact-cameras-get-juiced-with-wi+fi/gallery/1

Samsung's line of excellent NX-series mirrorless cameras is getting packed with the Wi-Fi features the company's been offering in point-and-shoots for years. Sharing your photos between devices and on Facebook made easy—but is it a feature that these cameras need?

Last year's Samsung NX200 was pretty darn excellent, save for a few quibbles we had with its automatic settings. And for the upcoming NX210 refresh, Samsung's largely leaving it alone, with the exception of the new Wi-Fi features: it's got the same DSLR-sized 20.3-megapixel sensor and shoots identical 1080p HD video. The cheaper NX10 and NX100 cameras will be replaced by the NX20 and NX1000. In addition to the Wi-Fi upgrades, these cameras will also get the same 20.3-megapixel APS-C sensor.

The built-in Wi-Fi features function much the same way as they do on Samsung's point-and-shoots. The camera will allow you to connect directly to online services like Facebook, YouTube, and Microsoft SkyDrive to upload photos and video. Using the MobileLink application for Android and iOS you can view your photos on a tablet or phone, and transfer them to these devices too. The Remote Viewfinder app—as its name implies—allows you to control your camera remotely. And if you're a Windows user, you can use Wi-Fi to back up your photos.

Over the last few years Samsung's been leading the pack with its Wi-Fi point-and-shoots, but does anybody really want this feature in a professional-grade compact camera? When using the camera's Wi-Fi features you're almost always sacrificing image quality because the camera won't transfer the huge files this camera would otherwise record to its memory card. What's the point of spending big bucks on a high-resolution camera with a big sensor and interchangeable lenses, if all you're going to do is scale the image down for a Facebook upload?

Samsung didn't give us information on how much the camera's would cost, but the NX200 costs $900, just to give you a point of reference. Get your routers ready: The new NX-series shooters will all be available in May. [Samsung]

Samsung's Pro Compact Cameras Get Juiced With Wi-Fi

Hands-on with Arqball Spin, the app that lets you create interactive 3D models

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/hands-on-with-arqball-spin-the-app-that-lets-you-create-interac/

Sometimes, two dimensional photos, even those taken by a 41-megapixel sensor, simply aren't enough to accurately depict a three dimensional object. Enter Arqball Spin, a free app that lets anyone with an iOS device create high-quality 3D models of whatever they like. Using the iPhone's camera, the app takes a series of images and uses some software black magic to create the finished product. The model, or "spin", can be cropped and adjusted (brightness, saturation and contrast) like a regular photograph, plus users can create custom annotations to identify or comment on specific parts of the "spin" as well. Viewers can then rotate the model 360 degrees and zoom in on any part that piques their interest. While it's currently an Apple-centric affair, support for DSLRs and other hi-res cameras (by uploading videos to the company's website for processing) and other mobile platforms is in the pipeline.

The app works best if the object is situated on Arqball's stage, which rotates at an optimal three RPM -- the stage isn't available yet, but the company's going the Kickstarter route to get the capital needed to start manufacturing. Those who pitch in now can grab a stage for $60, and it'll cost $20 more if you want to wait until it's on sale. Of course, the app still functions if you want to hold your iPhone or iPad and walk around your subject, but you won't get near the quality result that you can when using the stage. Because the "spins" are hosted on Arqball's servers, they can easily be embedded on any website via HTML.

By making photo-realistic 3D modeling so easy and accessible, Arqball sees this technology as a perfect fit for online retailers, educators, and, ahem, even gadget reviewers. While the app holds obvious commercial appeal, the com! pany's n ot counting out casual users, and hopes to see a future filled with user-created 3D content. We got to see the app in action, and walked away thoroughly impressed with both the speed of the app and the detailed models it produces -- but you don't have to take our word for it, see a sample spin and our hands-on video after the break.

Continue reading Hands-on with Arqball Spin, the app that lets you create interactive 3D models

Hands-on with Arqball Spin, the app that lets you create interactive 3D models originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OWC's Mercury Accelsior PCIe SSD is Mac bootable, strictly neutral

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/owc-mercury-accelsior-pcie-ssd-is-mac-bootable/

If you've ever tried to jam a regular SSD into your Mac, then you'll know that many off-the-shelf drives feel like they're tailored and tested for, ahem, someone else. Not so with OWC's Mercury Accelsior, which claims to be the only Mac bootable and Mac supported PCIe SSD on the market. Regardless of which platform you use it with, however, the dual-SandForce card promises some neat tricks with its 24nm Toshiba Toggle NAND. Sequential read and write speeds are around 50 percent higher than what you'd get from a regular SATA III drive, with the cheapest 120GB model ($360) offering 758MB/s reads and 743MB/s writes. Random performance is notched up too, with around 100K IOPS in both directions. The 960GB version costs a coldly precise $2,096, but still -- a potential side order for when the Mac Pro line finally gets another refresh?

Continue reading OWC's Mercury Accelsior PCIe SSD is Mac bootable, strictly neutral

OWC's Mercury Accelsior PCIe SSD is Mac bootable, strictly neutral originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use o! f feeds< /a>.

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Barclays releases PayTag: the NFC card you glue to your phone (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/barclays-paytag/

If you don't have a fancy NFC-enabled phone then it's hard to join the mobile wallet club. Fortunately, Barclays has introduced the PayTag that turns any phone into a contactless card. It's a square of plastic a quarter the size of a credit card that's sticky on one side -- yup, you just jam it on the back of your phone and hey presto, you can buy sandwiches, or any purchase up to £15 (£20 from June), without opening your wallet. The sticky squares will be rolling out exclusively to British Barclaycard customers over the next few months, although we're not sure what it'll do to the trade-in value of your handset.

Continue reading Barclays releases PayTag: the NFC card you glue to your phone (video)

Barclays releases PayTag: the NFC card you glue to your phone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel's first smartphone coming soon: Xolo X900 gets April 24 release date

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/19/intels-first-smartphone-release-date/

Intel's first Atom smartphone is now available, and it's Lava's Xolo X900. It has managed to outpace both Lenovo's K800 and Orange's Santa Clara and arrives on the Indian carrier next Monday. Packing a 1.6 GHz Atom Z2460 processor, we handled one in Barcelona a few months ago, and were pleasantly surprised with its responsiveness, if not its middling build quality. The four-inch 1024 x 600 display is accompanied by a one-megapixel camera on the front, plus a primary 8-megapixel shooter on the back capable of burst-shot photography. Despite its plastic build, Intel's new mobile offering won't all that cheap; the Xolo X900 by Lava is priced off-contract at around 22,000 INR ($420). At the moment, we're still waiting to hear how Orange and Lenovo will price up their own Medfield-powered offerings -- both are expected to emerge in the next few months.

Continue reading Intel's first smartphone coming soon: Xolo X900 gets April 24 release date

Intel's first smartphone coming soon: Xolo X900 gets April 24 release date originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Intel's Ultrabook Future Is a PC-Tablet Mashup for Under a Grand [Computers]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5902968/intels-ultrabook-future-is-a-pc+tablet-mashup-you-can-afford

While it may look like a tablet, this is in fact the first of a new series of prototype devices from Intel—hardware that it believes is the future of its self-styled ultrabook initiative.

Demoed in Beijing last week, this is Intel's Cove Point. It's reminiscent of two-in-one tablets like the Asus Transformer—with its hinged, folding design that switches from tablet to ultrabook-style laptop—but this thing is actually far, far beefier.

Beneath its surface, it's a fully-fledged PC. The device demoed in Bejing featured an early sample of Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge CPU, a 12.5-inch screen, two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port. It was also running a consumer preview version of Windows 8.

Speaking about the new design, Gary Richman, Director of Marketing for Intel's PC Client Solutions Division, told Wired:

"When we started talking about ultrabooks last year, we talked about different form factors, and touch and convertibles. This has been an evolution over time. Ultrabooks were never meant to be just clamshell designs... Where we see the future of computing going, with tablets and Windows 8, is the importance of the touch experience. [With Cove Point] we were looking to define the compelling form factors, usages and benefits of having a notebook design, while taking advantage of the touch experience in Windows 8."

There are currently no details as to whether any OEMs are planning to make an announcement about a device similar to Cove Point. When pressed, however, Richman did explain that he'd expect a similar device to retail for around $1,000. One thing's for certain: it's a hell of a lot more likely to come to market than some of the Intel concepts we've seen. [Wired and Pocket Lint]

Around 140,000 Apple machines still infected with Flashback malware, says Symantec

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/apple-flashback-virus-infections-update/

By now, we're all quite familiar with the Java-driven trojan that's affected thousands of Apple's rigs, and while the numbers seem to have drastically dropped since the first Cupertino fix, there's still a plethora of machines carrying the bug. According to Symantec, the number of infected computers is now at around 140,000, seeing a decline of over 460,000 since April 9th. Still, the security outfit remains puzzled by the fact, as it expected the digits to be somewhere near the 99,000 mark by now. Perhaps this is due to some folks not even being aware of Flashback's existence, or maybe not checking for software updates as often as most of us. Either way, we hope you've already used one of the tools Apple handed you.

Around 140,000 Apple machines still infected with Flashback malware, says Symantec originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Galaxy Beam crosses paths with FCC, sports 3G connectivity for AT&T

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/samsung-galaxy-beam-at-fcc/

The FCC comes across many smartphones in its daily routine, but it's hardly an everyday occurrence for one of those handsets to rock a miniature projector. That's the claim to fame of the Samsung Galaxy Beam, which just made its way through the regulatory body with full 3G support for AT&T's 1900MHz and 850MHz bands. We were first introduced to this updated version of the original Galaxy Beam at Mobile World Congress, and for a quick refresher, the Android 2.3 device packs a dual-core 1GHz CPU, 768MB of RAM, a 4-inch WVGA display and a projector that'll toss 50-inch imagery onto the wall. Naturally, whether AT&T chooses to sell the smartphone is another consideration entirely, but this certification will keep users in proper standing with the feds, and that's a good thing.

Samsung Galaxy Beam crosses paths with FCC, sports 3G connectivity for AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Iconia Tab A510 now available, 10.1 inches of Olympian ICS and Tegra 3 for $450

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/17/acer-iconia-tab-a510-now-available-android-ics-tegra3/

Ah, Acer's Olympics-themed Iconia Tab A510. If you'll recall, after months of staying quiet about its A500 successor -- which was already viewable in public -- Acer finally made the 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) slate official when it went up for pre-order last month. Fast forward to today, and the company's US website is now listing the tablet as in-stock and ready to ship. Notably, the A510 is Acer's first tab loaded with NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 SoC and Android Ice Cream Sandwich (slightly modified) -- a duo of delicacies seldom found together in tablets up for grabs as of late. To refresh your memory, its $450 price tag also gets you 32GB of storage with 1GB of RAM, your choice of a white or black bezel and other goodies, including a 1-megapixel front-facing camera and an auto-focusing 5-megapixel shooter on back. Not too shabby for device that can reportedly handle 12 hours of video playback. Sweet tooth tingling? Hit up the source link below for all the details.

[Thanks, Daryl]

Acer Iconia Tab A510 now available, 10.1 inches of Olympian ICS and Tegra 3 for $450 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Earth adds balloon and kite aerial imagery, invites you to contribute

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/17/google-earth-adds-balloon-and-kite-aerial-imagery/

Google Earth already offers quite a variety of ways to explore the planet, but the folks in Mountain View never seem content to leave things alone for long. Their latest addition is some aerial imagery of a slightly different sort -- images shot from ordinary balloons and kites. That initial batch of photos comes courtesy of the The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science, which is itself a grassroots effort that anyone can contribute to. And that's apparently what Google hopes folks will do in order to expand the aerial views available -- as Google notes on its Lat Long blog, all that you need to get started is a digital camera and about $100 in parts, plus a little initiative. Complete details on how to start your own DIY mapping effort, or simply explore the options now available, can be found at the links below.

Google Earth adds balloon and kite aerial imagery, invites you to contribute originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung reportedly axes Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 production to add quad-core CPU

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/17/samsung-reportedly-axes-galaxy-tab-2-10-1-production/

This is, well, a little strange. The fine folks over at Netbooknews are reporting that Samsung has ended production on the GT P5100 -- better known as the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1. The story comes courtesy of an unnamed "Korean Samsung insider" who claims the device is getting upgraded to a quad-core CPU. Whether the chip in question is the much lauded 32nm Exynos 4412, which packs not only four Cortex A9 cores, but four Mali 604 GPU cores as well, is unknown. It's also not clear how this is going to affect US launch plans. Rumors are the Galaxy Note 10.1 will be getting a similar brain transplant before hitting the market. Sadly, all we can do right now hold our breath and wish real hard that both will hit shelves sooner rather than later and with an extra pair of cores in tow. Sammy better get a move on too if it's gonna have to give Uncle Sam another crack at this slate.

Samsung reportedly axes Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 production to add quad-core CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/university-of-glasgow-scientists-print-drugs-in-3d-pave-the-way/

Breaking Bad in 3D? If recent work by a team of University of Glasgow scientists persists, that could soon be a hard reality -- just without the glasses. Taking what's typically been the province of sanitized laboratories and moving it outside, the group's devised an efficient method that makes use of commercial-grade three-dimensional printers to create "reactionware vessels": custom-designed, polymer gels that house and aide in chemical reactions. The technique, already viable on a larger, albeit slower scale, is not quite ready for primetime, but with future refinements could eventually trickle down into small businesses, or third-world countries where it'd be used for rapid medical treatment. And, in a hypothetical scenario that'll likely provoke scrutiny from the FDA and DEA, consumers might one day be able to save a trip to the drugstore and simply print from home -- a decidedly different spin on designer drugs -- using apps. Of course, this is all just speculation of potential future applications. We trust that humanity and enterprise will put this medication replication to noble use -- until it hits the club, that is.

University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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