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Monday, April 12, 2010

Eric Schmidt spreading word of an Android-based Google tablet, HP building one as well?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/eric-schmidt-spreading-word-of-an-android-based-google-tablet-h/

Google might be adding touch to Chrome OS, Chromium developers show us how it might look (video)

According to a report by The New York Times, Google's apparently looking to get into the tablet game itself. Eric Schmidt was reportedly talking up the device at a party in LA recently, saying that it would run Android exclusively -- which seems odd given that Google has been working on Chrome (a concept Chrome tablet is pictured above), but then again, we don't attend parties in LA so what do we know? Other people with "direct knowledge" of the project say Google is also hunting down publishers, operating in a "stealth mode." NY Times is also reporting that HP will be building another tablet outside the Slate, which will also run Android and has been nicknamed "the half-pint" for its 6-inch screen size (and, presumably, a feisty spirit / heart of gold). We're still unconvinced that Android is exactly appropriate for a tablet device, but if Google is indeed building its own, we're guessing we could see some tablet-friendlier software that could make Android into a true tablet contender -- how 'bout starting with the browser, Google?

Eric Schmidt spreading word of an Android-based Google tablet, HP building one as well? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meizu Mbook tablet gets pictured, initial specs detailed

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/meizu-mbook-tablet-gets-pictured-initial-specs-detailed/

Meizu's Mbook tablet gets pictured, is it just a big M8?

Well lookie here, folks, everyone's favorite clone phone maker is getting in on the tablet game, announcing the 8.4-inch Mbook. It's said to have a 1024 x 768 capacitive touchscreen, 3G and WiFi, a 12 hour battery, and even HDMI output over which it will pump enough data to tickle every pixel on your 1080p display. Promising (if a bit optimistic) specs for sure, and while we don't know what OS the thing will be running, those icons are looking mighty familiar. In other words, don't be surprised if this thing winds up being just a big M8.

Update: Commenter Mr. Crosini pointed out that the photo above is actually a fan-made conceptual render added here by ardent Meizu fanboy bingo_zheng. However, the specs are said to have come straight from the mouth of Meizu's CEO, and if you can't trust Jack Wong who can you trust?

Meizu Mbook tablet gets pictured, initial specs detailed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two first hands-on!

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/microsoft-kin-one-and-kin-two-first-hands-on/

We've just spent some time handling Microsoft's just-announced Kin One and Kin Two, and we're not sure what to think; the keyboards have surprisingly good feel, particularly the One (think Palm Pre levels of usability on the One, for example -- we wouldn't be surprised if it was their benchmark) and the phones generally feel pretty solid. In fact, we'd go so far to say that this is a marked improvement in hardware quality for Sharp than any of its Sidekicks ever offered. Problem is, we just can't get over the fact that the software is extremely limited in its scope -- yes, we understand that it's by design, but does this so-called "upload generation" of socially-connected teens and twentysomethings really want a phone that they can't download games to? That's the million-dollar question that Verizon will be answering over the next few months, it seems.

We know that the One is positioned as the slightly lower-end device on account of its 5 megapixel cam (the Two has 8) and half the internal storage, but we actually came away liking it more -- it's the only one of the two that looks truly unique, because the Two just looks like any old landscape slider smartphone (not to say that's necessarily a bad thing). The front of both devices is graced with a single metallic button to offset an otherwise clean glossy black bezel -- this button functions as Back, not Home, so if you're multiple levels deep into the UI you'll only be taken back one. You can still hold the button down to get back to the home screen, fortunately, and both the One and Two have dedicated camera buttons -- Microsoft's making no secret of the fact that image and video capture are a huge push for these devices.

Follow the break for more thoughts, shots, and video!

Gallery: Kin One UI hands-on

Continue reading Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two first hands-on!

Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two first hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kin is basically a Zune HD inside, can go for a weekend on a charge

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/kin-is-basically-a-zune-hd-inside-can-go-for-a-weekend-on-a-cha/

In a discussion with Kin product manager Derek Snyder this afternoon, we've confirmed that both the Kin One and Kin Two are built on the same foundation as the Zune HD -- in other words, they're running NVIDIA Tegra silicon, and there's no reason that anything you see on a Zune HD couldn't run just as well on a Kin. Of course, that's a purely theoretical statement at this point since Zune apps don't work on Kin as it stands -- the platform's completely closed, though Microsoft has been insistent that we should keep a close eye on its over-the-air updates after launch as features evolve. Either way, that's a marked (and curious) departure from Windows Phone 7, where Microsoft's been taking an all-Qualcomm, all-the-time approach.

Realistically, we've gotten the impression today that Kin doesn't come close to tapping out a Tegra's horsepower, but that might be by design: Snyder also mentioned that a key goal of the development phase was to make sure that the phones could go a whole weekend without a charge. Running a Tegra at full bore 24 / 7 doesn't lend itself to miserly power consumption, so the overall simplicity of the UI -- and the lack of 3D gaming -- might play a role there.

Kin is basically a Zune HD inside, can go for a weekend on a charge originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its â¬450 price and August availability

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/wepad-comes-out-of-tablet-hiding-reveals-its-450-price-and-aug/

There's no I in pad. Only we, of course. Yeah, we've been wanting to make that joke for awhile -- but in all seriousness, Neofonie, makers of the 11.6-inch WePad, held a press conference in Berlin today to reveal a bit more about its Linux-based slate. According to our German counterparts there will be two versions of the Intel Atom N450-powered tablet, which has two USB ports and an onboard webcam -- the 16GB / WiFi version will go for €450 and the 64GB / HD capable model for €569. We're a bit intrigued by the promised "full HD" support of the larger version, but Neofonie was quick to say that there is no NVIDIA inside. Hmm... Broadcom's Crystal HD, perhaps? The company wasn't willing to let reporters play with the early build of the multitouch device, but they did show off some videos of the Linux interface. You can watch a few after the break, but the live widget-based GUI looks extremely attractive and amongst other things, the browser supports Flash. It sort of hurts that we won't be able to get our hands on one until August, but we're happy to hear that the company, unlike some others, is taking the time to get things right.

Continue reading WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability

WePad comes out of tablet hiding, reveals its €450 price and August availability originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 19:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp's Doin' A 3DTV Now Too [3dTv]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5514913/sharps-doin-a-3dtv-now-too

Sharp's Doin' A 3DTV Now Too Sharp looked kind of foolish at CES when all their rivals announced 3DTV sets...and they had only discovered the color yellow. Playing catch-up, they've unsurprisingly announced they're working on 3DTVs for a Japanese launch this summer.

Other countries will follow after the Japanese retail launch, providing their RGBY sets go down well over there. Basically, those yellow TVs they showed off at CES have been converted with 3D tech, and will apparently have less "crosstalk" and brighter colors. We'll see Sharp, we'll see. [Akihabara News via CrunchGear]

Entelligence: What can Courier teach the market?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/11/entelligence-what-can-courier-teach-the-market/

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

A few months ago, some videos leaked from Microsoft showed a book-like device with two touch screens and a stylus. The user is seen researching, creating and designing content in a manner that looks both intuitive and innovative. Called Courier, the product doesn't (yet) exist beyond the conceptual videos, but it shows Microsoft is thinking in some new ways. Ross Rubin discussed Courier's role for creative professionals last week but I think there's even more at stake here -- I think the concept shows computing models are evolving. Here's what Courier represents to the market:

The pen isn't dead. The pen's been searching for a place in computing for more than a decade. We've seen experiments in all different types of pen computing from the PC to the PDA and the phone. They've all pretty much failed, and today's hot commodity is capacitive touch. Microsoft's Courier video shows how the pen can play a prominent role in the evolution of computing interfaces. While fingers are great for many things, there are tasks better served by the ability to manipulate at the pixel level. Handwriting and the ability to take written notes is one of them. Content creation and painting is another. It's clear Microsoft knows all this -- in addition to Courier, there's the Deskterity project that melds pen and touch on Surface.

Continue reading Entelligence: What can Courier teach the market?

Entelligence: What can Courier teach the market? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seagate teams with Paramount, pre-loads movies onto 500GB FreeAgent Go

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/seagate-teams-with-paramount-pre-loads-movies-onto-500gb-freeag/

Another fine day in paradise, another fine external hard drive for archivists to consider. Seagate has just announced its latest FreeAgent Go USB 2.0 drive, a pocket-sized external HDD with a 2.5-inch 500GB disc in there ready to be stuffed with your favorite blurred images and shakycam videos from the decade that was... except for the 20GB or so that's already claimed. In a move that may or may not be indicative of forward progress in the fight to free digital content, Seagate has partnered with Paramount Pictures in order to pre-load these drives with Star Trek (yes, the 2009 version), which can be unlocked gratis and shuffled about as you please after you register the drive. Additionally, 20 other titles are pre-loaded, and those guys can be "easily and securely unlocked through the online purchase of a license key," with pricing ranging from $9.99 to $14.99 per film. We had an opportunity to fire up Star Trek, and we must say -- the whole unlocking process was pretty painless on a Windows 7 rig. We didn't splurge on a ~~third~~ ninth copy of Nacho Libre, but we're pretty sure that masterpiece would be similarly easy to tap into. Oh, and if you'd rather just have free space rather than movies you already own / couldn't care less about, the delete command works wonders.

Gallery: Seagate FreeAgent Go tag-teams with Paramount

Continue reading Seagate teams with Paramount, pre-loads movies onto 500GB FreeAgent Go

Seagate teams with Paramount, pre-loads movies onto 500GB FreeAgent Go originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung i8910 HD runs 62 apps at once, multitaskers bow their heads

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/samsung-i8910-hd-runs-62-apps-at-once-multitaskers-bow-their-he/

While iPhone 3G owners and would-be Windows Phone 7 buyers sit in the corner, quietly weeping over their lack of true multitasking, webOS and Symbian continue to point and laugh. In mid-January, a Palm Pre Plus was seen cackling with joy over its rivals' misfortune even as the device staggered under the weight of 50 simultaneous applications, and less than a week later, a Samsung Omnia HD performed the very same feat, despite having only half the Pre Plus' RAM (i.e. 256MB) to work with. Now, in what we can only interpret as a large middle finger and "come here" gesture to all who aspire to the cell phone multitasking heavyweight title, we have a video of the i8910 running no less than sixty-two applications thanks to a custom ROM by HyperX. Watch in stunned silence as a finger scrolls through them, right after the break.

Continue reading Samsung i8910 HD runs 62 apps at once, multitaskers bow their heads

Samsung i8910 HD runs 62 apps at once, multitaskers bow their heads originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic's AF100 Micro Four Thirds video camera considers itself 'professional'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/panasonics-af100-micro-four-thirds-video-camera-considers-itsel/

We're not sure where Panasonic gets off calling its AG-AF100 a "professional" digital video camera. It's certainly not in the same class as RED or ARRI Alexa. It is, however, a very interesting video rig for shooting flicks on a budget with its Micro Four Thirds sensor and collection of micro 4/3 lenses, filters, and adapters. The AF100 records native 1080/24p using the AVC/ H.264 Hi Profile AVCHD codec to a pair of SD slots supporting both SDHC and newer SDXC removable media. The AVCCAM HD camcorder features a pair of XLR inputs, 48-kHz/16-bit two-channel digital audio recording, and supports LPCM/Dolby-AC3; it also packs USB 2.0, HD-SDI out, HDMI, a built-in stereo mic, and time code recording. So yeah, it won't record the next Hollywood blockbuster but it'll probably do fine by indie filmmakers without breaking the film school budget. Perhaps we'll better understand all this professional talk when Panny reveals its price in time for a year-end launch.

Panasonic's AF100 Micro Four Thirds video camera considers itself 'professional' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 03:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sharp's 3D tablet panel doesn't require glasses, RGBY 3D TVs launching this summer do

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/12/sharps-3d-tablet-panel-doesnt-require-glasses-rgby-3d-tvs-lau/

Don't think Sharp's going to sit by and let Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony have all the 3D TV fun. The Japanese company, and fourth-largest LCD TV maker, plans to begin selling its own 3D TVs in Japan this summer before launching in the US, Chinese, and European markets sometime later in the year. To prove it, Sharp ponied up some sample RGBY ("Y" for yellow) 3D LCD panels it claims to be the "industries brightest" in sizes up to 60-inches. While these biggie panels all require active 3D shutter glasses for the extra-dimensional effect, Sharp was also showing off a 10.1-inch 3D display prototype for netbooks or tablets that -- like its 3.4-inch parallax barrier display announced last week and suspected to be headed to Ninty town -- doesn't require glasses at all and can be produced with or without a touchscreen. No word on when that pup might begin mass production, however. 60-inch panel pictured after the break with a real live woman doing the pointing -- amazing.

Continue reading Sharp's 3D tablet panel doesn't require glasses, RGBY 3D TVs launching this summer do

Sharp's 3D tablet panel doesn't require glasses, RGBY 3D TVs launching this summer do originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sunday, April 11, 2010

iPhone OS 4 Has Video Chat, Group Chat Code [Iphone Video Chat]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5514326/iphone-os-4-has-video-chat-group-chat-code

9to5Mac dug up references to video conferencing—hosted on Apple's own servers—as well as group chat rooms and chat moderators in iPhone OS 4. That's good news.

The group chat and moderator stuff are unique to iPhone and aren't found in iChat on the Mac, so it's more-or-less legit as far as it being FOR the iPhone. 9to5Mac guesses that the group chat is for the Game Center, which makes sense, since if you wanted to have a group chat now you can do so over the regular phone network.

The video chat is definitely something we're looking forward to though, and hope that it's interoperable with iChat on the Mac (maybe an iChat for PC too). But to be fair, the existence of the code inside iPhone OS 4—especially right now—doesn't guarantee that the feature will come at OS 4's release in Summer. [9to5Mac - Thanks maj0!]

3M's PMP-packing MPro 150 pico projector gets a partially positive review (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/10/3ms-pmp-packing-mpro-150-pico-projector-gets-a-partially-positi/

3M's PMP-packing MPro 150 pico projector gets a positive review (video)

The pico projectors just keep on coming, and now it's time for the 3M MPro 150 to shine. It caught our eye back at CES thanks to its ability to play media, presentations, and even display spreadsheets all from internal memory -- no PC required. Now that ability has been given a thorough evaluation by PicoProjector-info.com and, while the overall performance of the projector was found to be good, it didn't quite deliver thanks to a VGA resolution. That simply didn't push enough pixels to render much business content, and the onboard media compatibility options disappointed as well. Build quality was said to be high and image quality good, but overall this one doesn't seem to live up to its $350 pricetag. You can see the thing in action after the break, or hit the source link for all the review details.

Continue reading 3M's PMP-packing MPro 150 pico projector gets a partially positive review (video)

3M's PMP-packing MPro 150 pico projector gets a partially positive review (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saturday, April 10, 2010

JDownloader Turbocharges File Sharing Sites [Downloads]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5513415/jdownloader-turbocharges-file-sharing-sites

JDownloader Turbocharges File Sharing Sites Windows/Mac/Linux: If you're a frequent visitor to popular file sharing sites like Rapidshare you'll want to grab a copy of JDownloader, a java-based tool that completely automates the downloading process.

JDownloader takes all the most irritating things about downloading from popular sharing sites like Rapidshare and Megaupload and either outright negates them or makes them more tolerable. Feed links, even links to multi-part downloads into JDownloader and it will automate the process, circumvent captcha, tweak wait times, auto-reconnect, and even run on a schedule.

JDownloader works as a stand-alone application or with Firefox through integration with the popular Flashgot extension. JDownloader is free, java-based, and available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Have a favorite download tool, especially for file-sharing sites? Let's hear about it in the comments.

JDownloader [via Freeware Genius]

OCZ bids for solid state throne with new Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SSDs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/10/ocz-bids-for-solid-state-throne-with-new-vertex-2-and-agility-2/

For the past nine months, Intel's X25-M G2 has been the solid state drive to beat, and manufacture as it might, rival OCZ hasn't been able to mass produce a SSD capable of matching its fantastic all-around performance. The original Vertex 2 Pro might have done the trick, but the company scrapped it after the speedy SandForce SF-1500 controller was found wanting, and only 5,000 of the 270MB / sec, 15,000 IOPS drives were ever produced. But now, OCZ's back with SandForce's cheaper SF-1200 chip, and surprise of surprises, the drives it power are even faster -- at least on paper -- than before. The new Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SSDs boast maximum sequential read speeds of 285MB / sec and 275MB / sec writes, and can perform those all-important 4K random writes at up to 50,000 IOPS on a Vertex, or a very respectable 10,000 IOPS for the budget Agility line. The company expects both drives to ship in the next few weeks in usable capacities of 50GB, 100GB and 200GB (provisioning an extra 14GB of overhead for each 50GB of storage) with 400GB SSDs planned further down the road. Now then, OCZ, how about that price tag?

OCZ bids for solid state throne with new Vertex 2 and Agility 2 SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 08:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for us! e of fee ds.

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