Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Jim Balsillie says BlackBerry PlayBook has a 'module cavity,' hints at NFC capabilities

Jim Balsillie says BlackBerry PlayBook has a 'module cavity,' hints at NFC capabilities

He unfortunately didn't have one on hand (or at least on stage), but RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie did make a bit of news about the BlackBerry PlayBook at the now-happening Web 2.0 Summit. The first is that the tablet packs what Balsillie described as a "module cavity" -- the most obvious use for which would be to add WWAN capabilities to the WiFi-only model (something Balsillie himself suggested), although the possibilities certainly extend far beyond that. Balsillie also later mused a bit about NFC capabilities, stating that "we'd be fools not to have it in the near-term, and we are not fools." That's obviously in relation to BlackBerry phones in general and not just the PlayBook, but it does seem like a prime candidate for that aforementioned "module cavity," which we really hope is not the final name.

Jim Balsillie says BlackBerry PlayBook has a 'module cavity,' hints at NFC capabilities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Official Google Voice app for iPhone hits the App Store

Official Google Voice app for iPhone hits the App Store

A few weeks after third-party apps started filtering in, Google's launched its own Google Voice app for the iPhone, and it looks to have all the most important features: call and text support, push notifications, and voicemail access (including transcriptions). It's available right now -- US only at the moment -- on iPhones with iOS 3.1 or higher as long as you've got a valid Google Voice account set up... so get to it.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Note: For some reason, you need to search the App Store for "googlevoice," not "google voice." Weird, we know.

Official Google Voice app for iPhone hits the App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dynamics' credit card-based computing platform makes what little money you have more secure (video)

Dynamics' credit card-based computing platform makes what little money you have more secure (video)

Some folks are trying to replace your credit card with your cellphone, while Dynamics, Inc. is among those trying to make credit cards better. And you know what? We seldom get excited by such things, but this video from the CES New York press preview has us seriously itching to upgrade our plastic. Card 2.0 is the computing platform powering the new Citi cards that re-write the magnetic strip depending on whether you want to spend you cash or your rewards points. The technology fits snugly in your credit card, is waterproof, has a battery life upwards of four years, allows multiple accounts on a single card, and even can be used to require a PIN before displaying the card number. This is some pretty awesome stuff indeed -- but don't take our word for it! Get a peep yourself in the video after the break.

Continue reading Dynamics' credit card-based computing platform makes what little money you have more secure (video)

Dynamics' credit card-based computing platform makes what little money you have more secure (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evigroup Paddle tablet goes Pro, gets cursor-controlling, head-tracking webcam

Evigroup Paddle tablet goes Pro, gets cursor-controlling, head-tracking webcam

Evigroup Paddle tablet goes Pro, gets cursor-controlling, head-tracking webcam

Some day, in the distant future, we'll be activating windows, clicking buttons, and playing Farmville with our minds. Our minds. There have been attempts to get us there, none fully comprehensive, though the Evigroup Paddle Pro tablet is taking an interesting alternative approach: using head tracking to control the cursor. Apparently its front-facing webcam detects your front-facing mug and as you look about the screen it moves the cursor appropriately. Staring rudely at any button or control for a half-second equates to a click and, while we don't yet know how you'll double-click, we'd like to think a spasmodic twitch will be required. Evigroup is also launching a curvy keyboard to go with the Paddle Pro and is promising the ability to play video and audio wirelessly courtesy of a "small station" that connects to your TV. The internals, meanwhile, are perfectly predictable: a netbook spec Atom N450 struggling with Windows 7 Home Premium. No word on price or availability.

Evigroup Paddle tablet goes Pro, gets cursor-controlling, head-tracking webcam originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown

BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown

We've only ever seen brief glimpses of the BlackBerry PlayBook in action so far, but a new video posted up by RIM comparing its tablet's web browsing performance to the iPad certainly has us hungry for more. Seriously -- PlayBook pretty much run laps around the iPad while loading pages, and even its Flash performance seems decent, which is a first for a mobile device in our experience. Of course, the video was made by RIM and we're sure the specific pages were picked to make the PlayBook look as good as possible, but that's fair enough -- now if we could just get our hands on one to verify these claims for ourselves, we'd be happy as clams. Video after the break.

Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown

BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce Isis national mobile commerce network

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce Isis national mobile commerce network

Just in time for the total economic collapse of Europe and the rise of the cyber-nomadic tribes, the kids at Discover, Barclaycard, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have a name for their mobile phone-based payment system: Isis. Essentially it remains what we heard from Bloomberg a few months back: a system for using an app on your phone to send payments to a POS system using NFC technology. The Isis team thinks it has "the scope and scale necessary to introduce mobile commerce on a broad basis," and we wish them the best. But we know how it all ends anyways: with the lucky among us dead, and the rest of us living in caves, hiding from death-dealing robots, and bartering for what we can't scrounge from the ruins of our once-great cities. PR after the break.

Continue reading AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce Isis national mobile commerce network

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce Isis national mobile commerce network originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RT @amklaassen - How a social media disaster led to transformation and "radical authenticity" @dominos - http://bit.ly/a2QxYU

Researchers Have Created a UV Light That Kills Bacteria Without Harming Humans [Science]

Researchers Have Created a UV Light That Kills Bacteria Without Harming Humans [Science]

It's widely known that ultraviolet light has bacteria killing properties. Unfortunately, its usefulness is limited since it also harms us. But now researchers have developed a high intensity, narrow spectrum wavelength that's safe enough to be used as lighting in hospitals.

High Intensity, Narrow Spectrum (HINS) light works by exciting molecules within bacteria to lethal levels, inducing bacterial suicide. Since it's harmless to humans, it can be incorporated into lighting, keeping areas constantly sterile.

The researchers, from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, also anticipated that people may not enjoy living in a purple-hued world, so they've figured out how to combine it with LED technology for a warmer, more pleasant glow. [University of Strathclyde via Smart Planet via Popular Science]

Olympus' E-PL1s Has Larger ISO Range and Is World's Lightest Interchangeable Lens Camera [Cameras]

Olympus' E-PL1s Has Larger ISO Range and Is World's Lightest Interchangeable Lens Camera [Cameras]

Olympus' E-PL1s Has Larger ISO Range and Is World's Lightest Interchangeable Lens Camera Going by Apple's method of whacking an "s" on the end of an only-slightly improved product, Olympus' E-PL1s features an improved battery and larger ISO range, from 3200 to 6400. Weighing 454g (including lens), pricing's yet to be confirmed. [AkihabaraNews]

Confirmed: Intel Sandy Bridge or 'second generation Core processors' to be introduced at CES

Confirmed: Intel Sandy Bridge or 'second generation Core processors' to be introduced at CES

We can't say this one is much of a surprise considering we've heard multiple times that Intel was planning to launch its next generation of Sandy Bridge processors in early 2011, but Chipzilla just confirmed that it will indeed be launching those "second generation Intel Core processors" at its CES press conference on January 5th. The details in the invite are few and far between, though apparently our favorite Intel exec Mooly Eden will take the stage to show off the "world's fastest processor" as well as technologies that "enhance visual life." Our guess is that we will also hear a number of Sandy Bridge system announcements from major laptop and desktop manufacturers at the show. Of course, we're also hoping to hear some solid Oak Trail / tablet news and more details about LightPeak at the presser, but there's one thing you can count on... us liveblogging our hearts out!

Confirmed: Intel Sandy Bridge or 'second generation Core processors' to be introduced at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD's Bobcat APU benchmarked: the age of the Atom is at an end

AMD's Bobcat APU benchmarked: the age of the Atom is at an end

So small, and yet potentially so disruptive. AMD's 1.6GHz Zacate chip, bearing a pair of Bobcat modules, has been taken off the leash today, resulting in a torrent of benchmarks pouring down onto the internet. While perusing the sources below, you might think to yourself that it's not exactly a world beater, sitting somewhere in the middle of the pack on most tests, but compare it to Intel's dual-core Atom D510 -- its most immediate competition in the target sub-$500 laptop price range -- and you'll find a thoroughgoing whooping in progress. The highlight of these new Fusion APUs is that they integrate graphics processing within the CPU chip, and Zacate didn't disappoint on that front either, with marked improvements over anything else available in its class. The resulting chips might still not have quite enough grunt to earn a place in your daily workhorse mobile computer, but their power efficiency and netbook-level pricing goals sure do look delightful. Or dangerous, if you're Intel.

Read - AnandTech
Read - Tech Report
Read - PC Perspective
Read - Hot Hardware
Read - Legit Reviews

AMD's Bobcat APU benchmarked: the age of the Atom is at an end originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Inspiron Duo tablet could be with us next week

Dell Inspiron Duo tablet could be with us next week

Alright, we know AMD's busy showing off its Atom killer, but there's still a little life left in Intel's netbook stalwart, which has been harnessed to its fullest in Dell's screen-flipping Duo tablet / netbook. And the good news is that we apparently won't have to wait too long to see that zany concoction out in the real world. Well placed sources have informed CNET that Dell intends to release the Inspiron Duo at some point next week, potentially on November 23rd, while pre-sale information should be dished out later this week, alongside Microsoft's announcement of a new store opening. Things are moving along nice and swiftly, it would seem.

Dell Inspiron Duo tablet could be with us next week originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, November 15, 2010

3D Mirror Accessory Turns iPhones Into Fun 3D Cinemas [Video]

3D Mirror Accessory Turns iPhones Into Fun 3D Cinemas [Video]

Whoa. While you can't actually buy this i3DG peripheral for your iPhone yet, I'm already imagining playing 3D games created especially for it. You can kiss the 3DS buh-bye.

It figures it's Japan-originated, where creator Jitsuro Mase collaborated with Directions, Inc for an Austrian expo. I desperately hope Mase manages to put it into production, because it looks far better than any other form of "3D" I've seen on something that small, including Sharp's parallax barrier panels that are used in Nintendo's 3DS.

The small add-on is made up of three 45-degree mirrors, which slips over the iPhone (or iPad, as apparently they made larger ones too), and projects whatever video is playing on the iPhone. You may look a little silly watching a movie by staring at the 30-pin connector of the iPhone, but little do those around you know that you're actually enjoying a quality 3D illusion by the name of pepper's ghost—something that's been around since the 1860s, supposedly.

For now, it only works with custom clips, but if enough developers are intrigued by this video, they could start creating clips and games in thirds, ready for launch. [Palm Top Theater via Creative Applications via Fastco]

What the hell happened to online coupons?! Can anyone explain these charts? (pics) - http://bit.ly/bTODl8

Another insightful post by @glenngabe: Social Assisted Search Conversion (ROI metric) - http://bit.ly/bF5PZ6

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