ARM Cortex-based netbooks said to be coming soon

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430006344/

Filed under: Laptops

ARM's Cortex processor was apparently good enough for the folks behind the Pandora project and it looks like we could soon be seeing some netbooks based on the CPU as well. That word comes straight from ARM's UK director of mobile solutions Rob Coombs, who said that both the Cortex-A8 (used in the Pandora) and the forthcoming Cortex-A9 would find their way into netbooks in addition to the expected smartphones, and that we should "expect announcements in the next few months." Of course, he didn't go so far as to name any specific companies we should expect announcements from, but he did helpfully run off a list of A8 and A9 licensees, which includes Samsung, Panasonic, NEC, and Toshiba, to name a few. As Crave points out, one potential drawback to netbook's using the processor is that there's no ARM-compatible version of Windows XP, but the architecture is supported by Windows CE and a number of Linux distributions, and there is the small matter of that other little device that's based on an ARM processor...

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T-Mobile G1 up and running with no activation

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430022772/

Filed under: Cellphones

It looks like getting up and running on an unactivated G1 is going to be a little easier than Apple made it for iPhone users. No jailbreak required. All you really need to do is beg, steal or borrow an active T-Mobile SIM card and slip it in the phone for the duration of the setup process (it should only take a few minutes). Once you've enabled WiFi you can go back to your old SIM: you're ready to browse the web, run your apps and do everything you expect your Android-powered phone to do (except talk on the phone). If you'd like to get in on this action, check out the read link for the step-by-step instructions.

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Scotch tape surprises everyone by producing X-rays

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430058916/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

As far as we're concerned, sticky tape is mostly just for out-there modding projects, but scientists have confirmed another use for it: X-rays. After hearing word of research in that direction by Soviet scientists in the 1950s, researchers at UCLA peeled scotch tape at 1.18 inches per second in a vacuum chamber and found that X-ray pulses were emitted by the process. A human thumb has already been successfully X-rayed by this technique, and if future investigation proceeds swimmingly, paramedics and aid workers operating off the grid might be able to do X-rays without bulky and dangerous nuclear technologies. We'll admit it -- we never saw scotch tape X-rays coming, but then, neither did you, right?

[Via Switched]

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Parrot intros Specchio WiFi photo frame with NFC

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430086481/

Filed under: Household

We were hoping WiFi photo frames would be a bit more ubiquitous by now, but Parrot's not waiting around on one lonely wireless standard -- it's introducing the Specchio frame with WiFi and Bluetooth NFC for getting photos to the screen. We've seen NFC in a few mass-transit trials here and there, but only Parrot seems to be really pushing the data aspects of the tech, so it'll be interesting to see how it holds up -- the idea is that you'll take pictures on your phone and simply hold it against the frame to transfer them. Nifty -- just like the frame display itself, which looks like a metallic mirror when switched off. Hm, this might be the first digital photo frame we're actually interested in -- too bad it'll cost $500 when it goes on sale next month.

P.S.- Parrot, have some dignity with these press images, will you? The iPhone has an ass-useless Bluetooth stack and you know it.

[Via Digital Picture Frame Review]

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PlayStation Home hacked, the search for backup exploits begins

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/430113644/

Filed under: Gaming

Hackers, like life, will find a way. Sony knows that all too well thanks to the PSP, but so far the PlayStation 3 has stood strong in the face of legions of nerds trying to find a way to exploit it. A potentially major breakthrough may have been made, though, as well-known PS3 hacker StreetskaterFU (we've no idea what he's going for with that name -- really) has managed to decrypt the beta client for Sony's PlayStation Home service. Curious devs can now poke around in the files looking for a way to exploit the newish in-game XMB functionality, potentially allowing homebrew apps and game backups without hard drive swapping. There's no guarantee it will lead anywhere in the end, but you don't care either way, right? Our upstanding readership would never participate in such heinously illegal activities.

[Thanks, James]

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