Verizon and AT&T want your old iPhones now that new ones are here

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/11/verizon-atnt-trade-in-iphone/

Sprint and T-Mobile have already promised to match and even top each others' (and other carriers') trade-in prices before the new iPhone debuted. But would you like to hear what Verizon and AT&T have to offer first before deciding which carrier to sell your soul to? Yes? Then let's start with Verizon, which will give you gift cards worth $300 for an iPhone 5S and worth $200 for an iPhone 5, 5c, 4 and 4s from any carrier if you get an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus with a two-year contract. AT&T, on the other hand, will up its minimum trade-in value for the iPhone 5S to $300, and for the iPhone 5, 5c, 4 and 4s to $200 starting this Friday. Also, you can get $100 off any iPhone if you're a new subscriber and $200 off any iPad when you sign up for an iPhone with a Next plan. You can see how much Apple's new devices will cost you under the carrier's Next pricing schemes after the break.

Of course, you can still trade in other devices through the company's respective buyback websites, but you may want to take advantage of these deals soon, because some of 'em won't be around forever. You can send in your old iPhones to Verizon in exchange for the fixed gift card values just until November 15, while T-Mobile's promo (as we've mentioned before) will have limited availability.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile

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Source: Verizon, AT&T

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People Are Freaking Out Over Apple's Forced Download Of U2's New Album On iTunes

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/everyone-is-freaking-out-over-u2s-new-album-2014-9

While Bono and Tim Cook might be excited about the release of U2's new album, not everyone is sharing their enthusiasm. 

Towards the end of Tuesday's Apple event, Tim Cook and Bono announced that every iTunes user would be given the band's new album for free. While that might not sound like a bad thing, many people are angry over the way Apple chose to "gift" us the album. 

U2's new album, Songs of Innocence, shows up in iTunes libraries as purchased, whether users have chosen to buy it or not. That's made a lot of people angry, as it's nearly impossible to get rid of the album.

Users who have opted to download new purchases to their iPhone automatically have found the new U2 album sitting on their phone since Tuesday. But even if iTunes users hadn't chosen automatic downloads, Songs of Innocence will still be displayed as an "iTunes in the Cloud" purchase. That means it will still be shown as part of your music library, even if you delete all the tracks. The only way to make the U2 album go away is to go to your Mac or PC, and hide all of your "iTunes in the Cloud" purchases, or to use iTunes to manually hide each track from your purchased items list.

Even then, the U2 album will lurk in your account, hidden until you decide you want it.

You cannot actually disassociate it completely from your account.

Angry iTunes users have pointed to Jay Z's deal with Samsung as a good example of an album being released in partnership with a technology company. In June last year, anyone with a Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 or Galaxy Note II was able to get Jay Z'! s new al bum for free, days before it went on general release. Crucially, customers had to choose to download an app to download the album. This meant that only Samsung customers who were interested in Jay Z's new album got to download it. By contrast, Apple's tactic forced the album upon hundreds of millions of people.

With Bloomberg reporting that Apple has over 800 million iTunes accounts, that's a whole lot of people who have the album. In comparison, U2's total album sales to date have been estimated at around 150 million. The band's last album, No Line on the Horizon, sold 5 million copies.

Tim Cook said on stage at the Apple event, shortly after awkwardly touching fingers with Bono, that U2's new album had "the largest album release of all time." But giving away the album for free means that Song of Innocence won't be eligible for listing on the Billboard Charts until its physical release on Oct. 14. 

SEE ALSO: Every Apple Customer Gets The U2 Album For Free

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Article: Dell’s 6mm thick camera-loaded tablet is IDF’s secret star

Intel's IDF wasn't where we expected to find an incredible Android tablet, but Dell quietly knocked it out the park with the Venue 8 7000, a brand new slate using RealSense depth-sensing camera technology. An 8.4-inch alternative to the iPad mini with Retina display and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8...

http://www.slashgear.com/dells-6mm-thick-camera-loaded-tablet-is-idfs-secret-star-10345803/

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Article: Here are seven cool projects made possible with Intel's tiny computer

Thinking about using Intel Edison for your next builder project, but feeling a little uninspired? Don't worry: IDF 2014 is rife with examples of how to use the company's new development board. In the weeks leading up to the conference, Intel employees and partners alike used it to build robots, m...

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/11/edison-projects/

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Article: MSI's laptop dock is bigger than the desktop it's designed to replace

There are several reasons to buy a gaming laptop over a desktop, but the biggest two would be portability and desktop footprint. That's what makes MSI's GamingDock such a curious proposition, since it trades both features in exchange for more raw power. Essentially, GamingDock is a big-ass box wi...

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/11/msi-gamingdock-laptop-dock/

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NVIDIA hints at an HTC Nexus 9 tablet coming within weeks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/10/nvidia-hints-at-htc-nexus-9/

Remember those hints of HTC returning to tablets? Yeah, the cat's out of the bag. As part of its patent lawsuit against Qualcomm and Samsung, NVIDIA has revealed that it expects a Tegra K1-powered "HTC Nexus 9" sometime within the third calendar quarter of the year. That would theoretically put the launch sometime before the end of September. However, don't get your hopes up for a release that soon. HTC just sent out invitations for a "double exposure" media event on October 8th, and there's still no guarantee that the Nexus 9 will surface at that gathering. Given that the slate is supposed to be running Android L, any unveiling will likely hinge as much on Google's progress as it does HTC's.

Filed under: Tablets, HTC, Google, NVIDIA

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Via: Bright Side of News, Droid-Life

Source: NVIDIA (PDF)

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Here are seven cool projects made possible with Intel's tiny computer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/11/edison-projects/

Thinking about using Intel Edison for your next builder project, but feeling a little uninspired? Don't worry: IDF 2014 is rife with examples of how to use the company's new development board. In the weeks leading up to the conference, Intel employees and partners alike used it to build robots, memes, high-altitude balloons and even clothing for a small showcase of the development board's potential. Care for a peek? Check out the gallery below to see some of Engadget's favorite Edison projects from IDF 2014.

Filed under: Misc, Intel

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Philips, not Beats, announces first Lightning-equipped headphones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/10/philips-not-beats-announces-first-lightning-equipped-headphone/

Back at WWDC, Apple announced a new spec for its Made For iPhone program: the ability to use a Lightning cable to connect headphones with iOS devices. With that in mind, and Apple's recent purchase of Beats, many (myself included) assumed that Dr. Dre and Co. would be the first to unveil a set of cans featuring the newfangled feature. Nope. Today, Philips announced that its Fidelio M2L set that will digitally connect with the diminutive jack rather than the 3.5mm port, with a built-in 24-bit digital to analog converter (DAC) to boost sound quality. In addition to the higher resolution audio, using the Lightning connector will also cut down on crosstalk and noise. Unfortunately, the increased quality appears to be the only spot Philips leveraged the port's abilities as there's no mention of controls and the like. If these look familiar, you might remember the Fidelio M1BT that debuted last year carrying similar stylings. Ready to take the leap? Well, you'll have to wait until December, but when the M2L headphones arrive, they'll set you back €250 (around $323 converted).

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Apple

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Via: The Verge, Pocket-lint

Source: Philips (Dutch)

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Google Just Made It Even Easier For You To Call Your Friends For Free (GOOG)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-integrates-google-voice-with-hangouts-2014-9

The rumors finally came true: Google just officially announced the integration of Google Voice and Google Hangouts, meaning you'll easily be able to send messages, video chat, and now call your friends and family all from one app on Android, iOS, and desktop. Before, you had to download a separate Google Voice app to make calls. 

Good news for your relationships and your bank account: Calls are completely free in the U.S. and Canada, and international rates are pretty cheap, too (it's only 5 cents a minute to call a friend in Mexico, for instance, compared to 28 cents on a regular phone). 

The new version of Hangouts that supports calling will roll out to users over the next few days. If you use Hangouts on your Android phone, you'll also have to install the accompanying dialer to turn on voice calls.

Here a peek at what phone calls will look like in Hangouts: 

SEE ALSO: Meet The Man Who's Whipping Google Employees Into Shape

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Microsoft is reportedly buying 'Minecraft' developer Mojang for $2 billion

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/09/microsoft-buying-mojang-minecraft/

Well, this is rather surprising: Microsoft is in talks to buy Minecraft's developer, Mojang, according to a few different sources. The Wall Street Journal says that the ever loose-lipped "person familiar with the matter" has noted the deal is valued at over $2 billion, while reps for both Redmond and the Swedish developer remain mum on the subject. We've reached out to Microsoft and, as expected, were told by a company spokesperson that the outfit doesn't comment on rumors or speculation, as well. If true, this doesn't come too far after outspoken Minecraft mastermind Markus "Notch" Persson recently changing his stance on the Facebook/Oculus VR purchase. Maybe he's come around to the idea of no-longer being one of the world's largest indie developers? Hopefully we'll know rather soon. Until then, you'll find us playing with Steve on Xbox One.

Update: A few new developments have surfaced, including details on the deal and when it should be completed. The New York Times reports that Microsoft approached Mojang as early as three months ago and the purchase should be finished by the end of this month. Perhaps most interesting though is that should the deal go through, Notch might not stay past six months after the ink has dried. Why? He likely wants to make sure his employees are being well taken care of. According to Bloomberg's sources, Notch (not Microsoft) actually made the approach to Redmond given the positive experience Mojang had bringing Minecraft to the Xbox One. Bloomberg also reports that Notch will help with the transition into ownership, but doesn't plan on staying long beyond that -- this isn't Microsoft forcing him out, it could be him looking to try his hand at something else.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft

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Source: Wall Street Journal, CNBC, New York Times, Recode, Bloomberg

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Visa's Token Service generates fake CC numbers to keep your real ones safe

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/10/visa-token-service/

If you haven't heard yet, Cupertino just launched a digital wallet called Apple Pay that randomizes your credit cards' numbers. The one responsible for generating those fake numbers for Visa cards in particular, is Visa itself, through its new Token service, which the world's largest credit and debit card company has announced right after Apple's big reveal. These "tokens" are random numbers not associated with your name or real card numbers. You can use them to purchase anything online or by using mobile to pay via contactless payment systems in brick-and-mortar stores. Visa's system can even generate different tokens for each merchant, device or type of purchase, if you want to be even more secure.

The great thing about using tokens is that you won't have to scramble to cancel and replace your card with a new one in case a retailer or a website suffers a security breach, because they never had your real CC details in the first place. As you've probably guessed, Apple Pay users will get the first crack at using Visa's Token Service, starting in October for folks in the US and in 2015 for the rest of the world. The technology was designed to work with all major platforms, though, so it'll eventually be available to its other customers (read: those using other devices through other digital wallets) in the future.

[Image credit: Alamy]

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Via: Reuters

Source: Visa (1), (2)

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An analog timepiece beats in the heart of this awkward smartwatch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/09/an-analog-timepiece-beats-in-the-heart-of-this-awkward-smartwatc/

Think you know what to expect in the emerging category of wrist-worn computing? Think again -- the thick, heavy device pictured above is the Halo: a smartwatch that almost has more in common with a traditional timepiece than it does with a smartphone. Lonshine technologies bills the Halo as "the world's first smart analogue watch," meaning that it still relies on the ticking of mechanical quartz movement to keep time. This is a smartwatch that has a real watch face and real hands nestled underneath a transparent touchscreen.

If you're wondering "why" (so were we), the answer is simple: battery life. The Moto 360 may be an attractive, functional wearable, but when its battery runs down it loses the ability to tell time. The Halo doesn't -- its mechanical movement runs on a standard watch battery, and lasts up to three years. Its higher functions are completely separate, almost an afterthought to the device's primary function as a timepiece. Unfortunately, that disharmony shows.

The Halo is a heavy, thick watch that comes in two variants -- an extra thick model (the Halo-2) that features extra batteries in the wrist-band and room for a sim-card as well as a slightly slimmer (but still notably large) Bluetooth model. Both watches run a heavily stripped down version of Android and can be used to make and accept calls and text messages (as as Google Hangouts) and display weather data. The experience is responsive, and overlays the traditional watch nicely, but it's extremely limited. This is a last generation smartwatch embedded within last century's timepiece.

For its faults, the Halo is actually a very novel idea -- by retaining classic watch mechanics, it ensures the wearer will always have at least basic functionality from the wearable, giving it a form of battery life that no other smart wearable on the market can manage. Lonshine technologies says it's looking for partners in the US to help market and distribute the watch, but couldn't say when it will launch. When it does arrive, however, it should be somewhere in the $300 price range.

Filed under: Wearables, Wireless

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A jet fit for a (Sacramento) King: Nike's sports plane of the future

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/09/nike-teague-concept-athlete-plane/

If you haven't heard of Teague, it's the Seattle-based firm that designed this year's e-bike of the future, the Pringles can and the original Xbox. The company also has a sideline aircraft cabins, and it was here that it learned of a peculiar problem facing professional sports teams. According to a 2008 study, baseball players that cross three time zones to play a game would have a 60 percent chance of losing, thanks to the lack of comfort afforded by air travel. That's why the company paired up with Nike to design an aircraft interior designed to expressly carry a basketball team from coast-to-coast without compromising their performances. That's why it comes with lie-flat beds that are tall enough for a 7-foot player, smart bathroom facilities that analyze hydration statistics and a separate chill-out zone for pre-and-post-game relaxation. Curious for a little tour of these state-of-the-art facilities? Head on down and check out the gallery.

Filed under: Transportation

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Via: Wired

Source: Teague

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Hands-on with the Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet and Intel RealSense

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/09/dell-venue-8-7k-hands-on/

If you've been on vacation even once in the last four years, you've seen it: tourists whipping out awkward tablets with sub-par cameras to capture what can only be the worst photographs. Tablets aren't known for their stellar imaging capabilities, but Dell and Intel's next joint effort may change that, at least to some degree. During this morning's Intel Developer Forum keynote, Michael Dell and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich will preview a new tablet: the Dell Venue 8 7000 series. At 6mm thick new slate is purported to be the world's thinnest tablet. It's also the first device to feature Intel RealSense - a photo technology that creates a depth map within every image it takes. Krzanich gave me a quick preview of the device before today's keynote.

True to Dell's word, the new Venue 8 7000 is very thin. It's svelte profile leaves it feeling very light in the hand, though Krzanich was unable to tell me its exact weight. The CEO says he's been testing the tablet out for a few months now, and he's become quite fond of it. It's not hard to see why -- it's a light, comfortable device to use ...though Intel's RealSense camera module does leave it looking a little unbalanced. The bevy of camera sensors takes up residence on the device's left side, embedded in a large speaker bar that gracing the tablet's same end. It gives the device an obvious place to grip without covering the screen, but lacks the symmetry of dual-speaker devices like the HTC One or NVIDIA Shield.

Still, it's easy to excuse the visual imbalance for the sake of the RealSense camera's capabilities. Krzanich fired up his tablet's camera app to show off the camera's depth mapping capabilities, beckoning me to touch the screen and drag between two points. This caused the app to draw a line under my finger, actively measuring the distance between the points. Krzanich says the camera can map a depth of several meters, and anything within that range can be accurately measured by the Venue 8 7000's onboard software. The app will also have refocus and filtering technology, and Intel hopes that it will spark new ideas in the minds of developers.

Details on the Dell Venue 8 7000 (and the long-term implications of RealSense) are still scarce, but in the few minutes I spent with the tablet impressed.

Filed under: Tablets

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Sprint and T-Mobile fight to buy back your old devices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/09/sprint-t-mobile-trade-in-program-fight/

With the new iPhone making its debut later and other phones coming out in the next few months, you're probably already looking for the best way to trade in your old device for a new one. Sprint and T-Mobile both want your business really badly, it seems, so now they're trying to one-up each others' -- and everyone else's -- buyback programs. While the Now Network has long paid up to $300 for old gadgets, the company will now start matching any higher trade-in price you get from the other three major carriers, in an effort to offer the best deal possible. But Big Magenta won't go down without a fight: in case you get a better buyback pricing from another carrier, the company will not only match it, but also add $50 on top of the total amount to make the deal sweeter.

As Sprint pointed out in is press release, though, T-Mobile only lets you trade in one device per line and only when you're buying a new one, whereas its buyback program accepts up to three eligible devices at once. Choosing between the two then depends on how many devices you're trading in, which one will pay you the most and when you're turning in your old devices: Sprint's new policy starts immediately, but T-Mobile's will start on September 17th and is only available for a limited time. Your move, AT&T and Verizon.

[Image credit: Getty Images]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Sprint, T-Mobile

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Source: Sprint, T-Mobile

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