Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.6 update brings Flash 10.3 and AIR 2.7 to PlayBook

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/blackberry-tablet-os-v1-0-6-update-brings-flash-10-3-and-air-2-7/

Nah, it ain't the update that'll bring a standalone email client to your BlackBerry PlayBook, but at least it's some positive news in an otherwise gloomy arena surrounding RIM. Version 1.0.6 of the BlackBerry Tablet OS was just cut loose today, bringing support for Adobe's Flash 10.3 and AIR 2.7 software. In other words, users should see improved Flash performance, and they'll also be able to tap into a new array of apps crafted with AIR 2.7. Oh, and for the security mavens? There's a few built-in updates to safeguard you and yours. It's available over-the-air right now, and if you don't see an update just yet, be patient -- it's en route, we swear.

BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.6 update brings Flash 10.3 and AIR 2.7 to PlayBook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/vizio-tablet-gets-detailed-we-go-hands-on-video/

Way back in January at CES, we managed to sneak in a little bit of hands-on time with the Vizio tablet, the TV manufacturer's straightforwardly-named foray into the ever-popular space. The tablet runs Gingerbread at present, though Vizio has said that it's willing to make the leap over to the tablet-optimized Honeycomb, as soon as that operating system is deemed sufficiently stable by the company. The 1024 x 768 device is multimedia-minded, with an IR controller on the top that lets the whole thing double as a remote for your living room entertainment devices like TVs and VCRs. The tablet also features HDMI out and speakers on the top and side, so you can maintain stereo listening even when you switch its orientation.

Blake Griffin's favorite touchscreen device will be hitting store shelves next month for a fairly reasonable $349 -- we wouldn't have expected anything less than an affordable price point from a company like Vizio. And we have to say, it's a pretty solid feeling piece of hardware for that price. The software doesn't seem quite perfect at the moment, but we're happy to hold off judgment until we get some hands-on time with the final version in the near future. Check out a video tour of the tablet below.

Gallery: Hands-on with the Vizio tablet

Hands-on with the Vizio tablet

Continue reading Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video)

Vizio Tablet gets detailed, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter streaming from a WiDi laptop near you in July

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/belkin-screencast-tv-adapter-streaming-from-a-widi-laptop-near-y/

We've already seen Belkin's ScreenCast TV Adapter at its most unflattering, stripped naked for all the FCC to see, so it was a welcome change spotting the streaming media device in a more flattering light on the floor of GDGT's New York meetup. The set top box can stream 1080p video and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound from any WiDi-enabled laptop to your HDTV. It's also got dual-band wireless technology (at 2.4 and 5GHz) and can also handle your Blu-ray collection. The ScreenCast will start hitting living rooms in mid-July for $130, including a bundled HDMI cable. Stream some press releasey goodness after the break.

Gallery: Belkin ScreenCast WiDi hands-on

Belkin ScreenCast WiDi hands-on

Continue reading Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter streaming from a WiDi laptop near you in July

Belkin ScreenCast TV Adapter streaming from a WiDi laptop near you in July originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cue Acoustics PS1 wireless speakers do audio over DLNA, we go hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/cue-acoustics-ps1-wireless-speakers-do-audio-over-dlna-we-go-ha/

Speaker wire is expensive if you buy it at retail, cheap if you just use a spool of electrical cable, but always, always an eyesore. Sure, you can pull it through the drywall, hide it behind some curtains -- or you can just go wireless. That's the option Cue Acoustics will enable with its PS1 bookshelf speakers, shipping this August. They're a high-end pair, each internally amplified and offering a 5-inch downward-firing woofer, 3.5-inch mid, and .75-inch tweeter, covering all the acoustic hotspots with fanfare. More important, though, is that each speaker can run with only one cable: power. Full details after the break.

Gallery: Cue Acoustics PS1 hands-on

Cue Acoustics PS1 hands-on

Continue reading Cue Acoustics PS1 wireless speakers do audio over DLNA, we go hands-on

Cue Acoustics PS1 wireless speakers do audio over DLNA, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iCard ECG brings heart monitoring to the iOS device of your choice (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/icard-ecg-brings-heart-monitoring-to-the-ios-device-of-your-choi/

iCard ECG

AliveCor's iPhoneECG case was pretty sweet but, being a case, could only be strapped to an iPhone 4. Doctors content with their 3GS or patients who prefer to hug an iPad to their chest will be elated to hear the company is working on a more hardware-agnostic option for your iOS heart monitoring needs. The business card-sized iCard ECG mounts to the back of your iDevice using velcro and wirelessly feeds data from its electrodes to the AliveECG app. The app automatically records 30 seconds of your heart's rhythmic pulse before uploading it to AliveCor's servers for sharing with your doctors. The bad news? They're still awaiting FDA approval, so you can't run out and pick one up just yet. But, when it does hit shelves, it looks like you'll have a choice of red or black -- so you can make sure your medical accessories match your scrubs. Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading iCard ECG brings heart monitoring to the iOS device of your choice (video)

iCard ECG brings heart monitoring to the iOS device of your choice (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/elusive-acer-iconia-tab-a100-spotted-at-walmart-for-349/

Typically, the whole fun of spotting products in the wild is that they haven't been officially announced to the world yet, but in the case of the Acer Iconia Tab A100, we're just amazed it's finally here, and that it's so... unassuming. Just weeks after rearing its head in FCC drawings, the delayed Tab has quietly surfaced at Walmart with a price tag of $349. That sticker there says it all, but for the money you'll get Tegra 2 innards with 8GB of internal storage, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5 megapixel one 'round the back. And of course, it runs Android 3.0 at a time when most other 7-inchers still tap out at Android 2.3 -- possibly the reason it was delayed in the first place. There's no listing on Walmart's website just yet, and our tipsters indicated it wasn't actually on display. Still, if we're seeing a price and tag, that means we're beyond the point of any more delays... right?

Update: What you see in the wild is a display tag -- not the elusive A100, of course. You can't pop into a Walmart to buy one yet, but if that sticker is any indication, that'll change soon.

Update 2: At least one reader says he not only saw, but played with the A100 at the Walmart in Leavenworth, Kansas, and even double-checked the model number when he saw the price. So depending on where you live, the tablet may have already landed at a Walmart near you.

Update 3: One sneaky reader snagged a sheet of wally-world pricetags, see the A100's barcode hanging with tags for the Iconia A500 and HP Touchpad after the break.

[Thanks, Mat, David, Jared, and Clyde]

Continue reading Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated)

Elusive Acer Iconia Tab A100 coming to Walmart for $349 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba's quad-core Satellite L750D goes on sale for $699 as one of the first available Llano laptops

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/toshibas-quad-core-satellite-l750d-goes-on-sale-for-699-as-one/

When AMD came clean with its Fusion A-Series platform, the outfit was quick to admit that some manufacturers have already started slipping these hybrid CPU / GPU chips into their spankin' new PCs. Still, at this early stage we still haven't spotted many of 'em -- if anything, we have a better idea what's on tap for later this summer. But here we have the Toshiba Satellite L750D-ST4N01, the first available Llano-packing notebook we've seen since the A-Series' launch. At $699, this 15.6-incher might seem like a forgettable system with its 4GB of RAM, 640GB 5400RPM hard drive, 1366 x 768 panel, and three USB 2.0 ports. Heck, Toshiba barely even gave the L series lip service when it announced a slew of laptops last week. But, what makes this seemingly ho-hum machine special is that it packs AMD's mid-range quad-core A6-3400M chip and an AMD Radeon HD 6520G graphics core -- a combination that adds just $10 to the cost over a similarly configured Satellite L755-S5258 with a dual-core Core i5-2410M processor and integrated Intel graphics. The L750D isn't for you? The deluge of A-Series systems hasn't even begun yet, friends. And while the jury's still out on real-world battery performance, this should make it crystal clear that if nothing else, AMD is taking no prisoners when it comes to pricing.

[Thanks, Eric]

Toshiba's quad-core Satellite L750D goes on sale for $699 as one of the first available Llano laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel plans exascale computing by 2018, wants to make petaflops passÃ©

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/intel-plans-exascale-computing-by-2018-wants-to-make-petaflops/

Sure, Fujitsu has a right to be proud of its K supercomputer -- performing over 8 petaflops with just under 70,000 Venus CPUs is nothing to sneeze at. Intel isn't giving up its status as the supercomputing CPU king, however, as it plans to bring exascale computing to the world by the end of this decade. Such a machine could do one million trillion calculations per second, and Intel plans to make it happen with its Many Integrated Core Architecture (MIC). The first CPUs designed with MIC, codenamed Knights Corner, are built on a 22nm process that utilizes the company's 3D Tri-Gate transistors and packs over 50 cores per chip. These CPUs are designed for parallel processing applications, similar to the NVIDIA GPUs that will be used in a DARPA-funded supercomputer we learned about last year. Here we thought the war between these two was over -- looks like a new one's just getting started. PR's after the break.

Continue reading Intel plans exascale computing by 2018, wants to make petaflops passé

Intel plans exascale computing by 2018, wants to make petaflops passé originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japan speeding ahead with 500km/h Maglev train

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/japan-speeding-ahead-with-500km-h-maglev-train/

Traveling the 515 km (320 miles) from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen bullet train currently requires 2 hours and 25 minutes (and costs a small fortune, too). Come 2045, travel between Japan's two largest metro areas will take just over one hour, following the launch of the country's longest maglev track, which just received construction approval from Tokyo. The nine trillion yen project (approximately $112 billion) was first proposed in the 1970s, but was tabled indefinitely due to its astronomical costs, most of which stem from an extensive network of tunnels that will represent 60 percent of the route. You'll be able to get your Japanese Maglev fix beginning in 2027, when the Central Japan Railway launches its high-speed route between Tokyo and Nagoya. One notable neighbor to the west is already operating its own maglev train. China's Shanghai Transrapid has been blasting riders to Pudong airport since 2004, and once achieved a top speed of 501km/h (311 mph). The country is also constructing a 1000km/h vacuum-based train that it plans to launch within the next few years.

Japan speeding ahead with 500km/h Maglev train originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's N9 official: a luscious slab of MeeGo coming later this year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/nokias-n9-official-a-plastic-slab-of-meego-coming-later-this-y/

Stephen Elop said that Nokia would unveil its first MeeGo device this year, and he just made good on his word with the N9 (also known as Lankku). Just as we spotted earlier, the N9 is a solid slab of 3.9-inch AMOLED screen (854 x 480) sans a keyboard or physical switches of any kind (well, aside from that oh-so-necessary volume rocker and camera button). The phone comes with 16GB or 64GB of onboard memory and 1GB of RAM wrapped in a polycarbonate shell that's colored all the way through, so dings and scratches won't show -- unless the wounds run deep, of course. An OMAP3630 1 Ghz processor does the computing while a PowerVR SGX530 GPU is around for graphical grunt work. Connectivity comes courtesy of quad-band GSM and penta-band WCDMA radios, plus Bluetooth 2.1, NFC, and GPS. There is also a dedicated camera button for the 8 megapixel wide-angle shooter, which is capable of aperture F2.2 for low light picture taking and true 16:9 720p video recording. Oh, and it's an AF shooter, not EDoF.

The entire thing measures 116.45- x 61.2- x 7.6-12.1mm and weighs 135 grams, with a battery capable of lasting up to 50 hours (music), 4.5 hours (720p video), or between seven and 11 hours (GSM yappin'). You'll also get gratis turn-by-turn drive and walk navigation with voice guidance in Maps, a dedicated Drive app, proximity sensor and a choice of hue: black, cyan, and magenta. Other hardware specs include 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, an ambient light sensor, compass, orientation sensor, a micro SIM slot, tethering support and a 3.5mm "AV connector." It'll be humming along on MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan, with apps being compliant with Qt 4.7 and HTML5 support bundled in.

As for software? Aside from Angry Birds Magic, Galaxy on Fire 2, Real Golf 2011 and OpenGL ES 2.0, those who take the plunge will be greeted with a Webkit2-based browser, pinch-to-zoom support, unified notifications for Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds in the Events view as well as social networking profiles and status updates merged into phone contacts. MeeGo touts a user interface simplified to three home views -- events, applications and open apps -- with a swipe gesture able to take you back to the home view. For those looking to expand upon what's loaded from the factory, Ovi Store access is included, but we've no idea what kind of pricing will be affixed. We'll be getting a fair bit of hands-on time with this guy in just a few hours, so keep it locked here for our first impressions!

Gallery: Nokia's N9 official: a plastic slab of MeeGo coming later this year

Continue reading Nokia's N9 official: a luscious slab of MeeGo coming later this year

Nokia's N9 official: a luscious slab of MeeGo coming later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jun 2011 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Symbian Anna shipping on N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 in July, download set for August

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/symbian-anna-shipping-on-n8-e7-c7-and-c6-01-in-july-download/

We've already seen Symbian Anna begin shipping on the Nokia X7 and E6, but this little lady is about to become much more popular. Nokia has announced it will begin distributing its latest OS on the N8, E7, C7, and C6-01 -- all beginning next month. Unfortunately, if you're among the millions who already own one of these handsets, you'll have to wait until August for an OTA or PC-assisted update. Not like there's any rush, seeing that Symbian will be kicking until 2016 and all.

Symbian Anna shipping on N8, E7, C7 and C6-01 in July, download set for August originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC EVO 3D on sale now to Sprint Premier customers: $200 on a two-year contract

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/htc-evo-3d-on-sale-now-to-sprint-premiere-customers-200-on-a-t/

Settled on an EVO 3D, did you? If you just so happen to be a part of Sprint's Premier club, it looks as if your floodgates are wide open. A spate of tipsters (as well as our own Richard Lawler) have confirmed this evening that Sprint's latest whiz-bang superphone is indeed on sale to an elite few, with $199.99 netting you the handset along with a particularly daunting two-year ball / chain combination. $549.99 buys it outright, but there's no clear indication on if these are indeed shipping out in the morning. Either way, we're guessing it's going to be mighty hard to resist this fellow -- you know, Because life is in 3D.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading HTC EVO 3D on sale now to Sprint Premier customers: $200 on a two-year contract

HTC EVO 3D on sale now to Sprint Premier customers: $200 on a two-year contract originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's N950 developer MeeGo handset gets official: 4-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, same childlike dreams (updated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/nokias-n950-developer-meego-handset-gets-official-4-inch-displ/

If it weren't for a book's worth of confirmation text from Nokia, we'd swear the N950 was just as much a unicorn today as it's been every day prior. Even now, the developer version of the newly-announced N9 is coming to us sans imagery, with only a scant few hardware specifications to piece together something of an image in our minds. Thankfully, the mere mention of a "QWERTY keyboard" leads us to believe that it'll look an awful lot like a leak we spied back in August of 2010. Needless to say, this MeeGo-based device won't ever be widely available, but those interested in breaking out the code can look forward to a 4-inch TFT LCD (compared to the N9's far superior 3.9-inch AMOLED), an identical 854 x 480 screen resolution, a "different" 8 megapixel physical camera, a different location for said camera, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a slightly less sensitive magnetometer. It's also devoid of an NFC module, and the 1320mAh battery falls a bit short of the 1450mAh cell tucked with the downright delectable N9. Mum's the word on price and availability, but Nokia's not hesitating to remind us that the N950 units that do ship will be of "beta quality and come without any warranty or support whatsoever." Don't even front -- you're still buying one.

Update: The N950 device after the break was pulled from a Qt developer video looking very much like those early N9 leaks (and not the E7 slider) presumably protected by a plastic case.

Update 2: Another N950 without the case can be seen above.

[Thanks, Mark and Alan]

Continue reading Nokia's N950 developer MeeGo handset gets official: 4-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, same childlike dreams (updated)

Nokia's N950 developer MeeGo handset gets official: 4-inch display, QWERTY keyboard, same childlike dreams (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 3.2 shipping this summer for 7-inch tablets, Huawei's MediaPad gets handled

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/android-3-2-shipping-this-summer-for-7-inch-tablets-huaweis-me/

We knew that Android 3.2 was little more than a tailor-made edition of Android 3.1 for 7-inch slates, but even after speaking with Huawei, we weren't exactly sure when it would be rolling out to things other than its own MediaPad. Our pals over at This is my next managed to confirm that it'll be landing as early as this summer, and for better or worse, it'll be the last major Android release prior to Ice Cream Sandwich hitting retail devices in Q4. Moreover, it's bruited that v3.2 will bring support for Qualcomm CPUs as well as NVIDIA's Tegra 2 chipset, which could lead to HTC's Flyer getting an upgrade of its own. As for more current plans, it seems as if the Motorola Xoom -- a slate that was just recently updated to 3.1 -- will see another point increase in the coming weeks, which should give us a solid indication of what to expect software-wise with the MediaPad drops a few months later. Speaking of which, both CNET and M.I.C. Gadget were on-hand in Singapore for a look at the show-floor model of that very tablet, and you can feast your eyes on the pictorial proof down in the source links below.

Android 3.2 shipping this summer for 7-inch tablets, Huawei's MediaPad gets handled originally appeared on! Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sigma Design's 'ultra thin' TV box design promises HD in a tiny package

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/21/sigma-designs-ultra-thin-tv-box-design-promises-hd-in-a-tiny/

It's not much bigger than many of the wall warts currently filling outlets in your power strip, but this reference design from Sigma Designs could be your next cable box. With HomePlug networking, Z-Wave RF remote control technology and the ability to process multiple 1080p streams at once built in, it only needs to be plugged in to the wall (and connected to a TV via HDMI) to get to work. connect to the network and pull in video from the internet, feeds from an IPTV provider like U-Verse (or Comcast eventually), or multiroom streams from a connected DVR. At its heart is the SMP8670 chip unveiled at CES that's optimized for XBMC, Adobe AIR and Flash which could make it an ideal extender for someone like TiVo or Boxee, if Sigma can get them to bite on the concept. Until then, all we can show you are a few pics of the bare internals in the gallery and a press release after the break.

Gallery: Sigma Ultra-Thin set-top box

Continue reading Sigma Design's 'ultra thin' TV box design promises HD in a tiny package

Sigma Design's 'ultra thin' TV box design promises HD in a tiny package originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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