ASUS targets Christmas for Padfone launch, hints at Ice Cream Sandwich (video hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/asus-targets-christmas-ice-cream-sandwich-for-padfone-launch-v/

We just got to spend some quality time with ASUS' newly unveiled Padfone and you can see the smartphone that doubles up as a tablet on video after the break. It's still a mere mockup for now, but ASUS has big plans for it -- plans that coalesce around the Christmas period and the very latest version of Android at that time. ASUS' Benson Lin was careful not to openly admit the company intends to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, but he did point out that you can't launch a smartphone with Honeycomb as the OS. We were encouraged to draw our own conclusions.

The smartphone is actually the only smart aspect of this hardware pair -- the slate part acts as a display, a set of speakers, an extended battery, and an I/O extender, but it doesn't work by itself. ASUS also tells us there'll be other functionality enabled by the tablet panel, but that's being kept under wraps for now. Compatibility between the display dock and subsequent phone generations is being contemplated but couldn't be confirmed, and as to the UI, ASUS says it'll be almost the same as its second-gen Android tablets. You heard that right, second generation ASUS Android tablets -- to succeed the Transformer and Slider -- will be coming around the same time as the Padfone.

Gallery: ASUS Padfone first hands-on

Continue reading ASUS targets Christmas for Padfone launch, hints at Ice Cream Sandwich (video hands-on)

ASUS targets Christmas for Padfone launch, hints at Ice Cream Sandwich (video hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 May 2011 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked AMD roadmap reveals Desna APU, bona fide tablet strategy

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/27/leaked-amd-roadmap-reveals-desna-apu-bona-fide-tablet-strategy/

What's a chip maker to do after successfully hawking five million of its Fusion APUs? Why, expand the line, of course! A leaked slide deck from within the lairs of AMD is showing off quite a bit of the company's upcoming roadmap, and while a good deal of it has already been made public in one way or another, there's one term that's causing all sorts of buzz -- and for good reason. Desna is the name to know, a Z-Series APU that's aimed squarely at the tablet form factor. To date, only a handful of chips have managed to slide into slates, and while we always reckoned that a version of Fusion could really give those ARM-based alternatives a run for their money, it wasn't clear if AMD actually had one that would handle the power and heat requirements. Based on these sheets -- dated this month, for what it's worth -- the Z-Series chip will offer Flash compatibility, DirectX 11 support and IE9 / HTML5 acceleration, and that's just for starters. Head on down to the links below for the full skinny, but make sure you grab a cup of joe and unplug the line first. You'll need a few, to say the least.

Leaked AMD roadmap reveals Desna APU, bona fide tablet strategy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 May 2011 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee Pad Slider going on sale 'soon,' price is still anyone's guess

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/27/asus-eee-pad-slider-going-on-sale-soon-price-is-still-anyone/

ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer might still be difficult to track down, but at least all systems are go for the company's other Honeycomb tablet, the Eee Pad Slider. The company confirmed today that the 10.1-inch tablet, originally slated for May, is "coming soon" -- no word, of course, on whether it will ditch Tegra 2 for an Atom Z670 CPU, as rumored. Next up, ASUS, give us a price, capiche? Last time we checked, the company was estimating it would cost between $500 and $800, so your guess is as good as ours as to how sweet a value this will be. Hopefully, we'll get to see this elusive tab again at Computex next week, but in the meantime, hit the source links for some tightly cropped teaser shots of it running Honeycomb.

ASUS Eee Pad Slider going on sale 'soon,' price is still anyone's guess originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 May 2011 21:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple testing A5-packing MacBook Air?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/28/apple-testing-a5-packing-macbook-air/

We've seen it put its processing power behind the iPad 2 and heard rumors of its presence in the upcoming fifth-gen iPhone, but could Apple really be considering putting its mobile-minded A5 processor in a MacBook Air? According to Japanese website, Macotakara, a trial of the ARM chip is already underway. Apple's reportedly been experimenting with a Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Air with the A5 on board, and "according to someone who has seen a model running with [Apple's] A5 processor, the performance is better than had been thought." Two weeks ago, we reported on rumors that the upcoming MacBook Air refresh could be on its way as early as next month, featuring Intel's Sandy Bridge 17W mobile processors -- a claim we'd say could hold water. Of course, this information has trickled a ways down the grapevine, and the presence of an A5-packing test vehicle doesn't mean much anyway, but you can consider our interest piqued, regardless.

Apple testing A5-packing MacBook Air? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 May 2011 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AMD ships five million Fusion chips, says it's sold out

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/28/amd-ships-five-million-fusion-chips-says-its-sold-out/

Sounds like Notbooks are making a dent: AMD says it's shipped five million Fusion processors since the architecture's debut, according to a report at CNET. In January, the company said the hybrid CPU / GPU chips had momentum, and as of last month it was quoting 3.9 million APUs out in the wild, but this week AMD says that demand has overtaken supply and it's completely sold out of the Atom alternative. Sounds like Intel's more than justified in seeking out hybrid solutions of its own, no matter where it might have to look to get a leg up in the integrated graphics market. Here's hoping AMD's other Fusion chips show just as much pep per penny (and milliampere-hour) as the original processor.

AMD ships five million Fusion chips, says it's sold out originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 May 2011 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our ter! ms for u se of feeds.

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This is the ASUS PadFone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/29/this-is-the-asus-padfone/

Wow, so our theory and mockup turned out to be pretty much spot on: indeed, the oddly named ASUS PadFone does tuck itself into a shielded docking bay on the back of its companion tablet, and the latter's hinged cover appears to pop up upon releasing the latch. You can also just about make out the two ports inside which are likely to be HDMI and micro-USB -- one for driving the larger display, and the other for taking care of touch input while possibly sipping juice from an extra battery somewhere. Now, what we really like to know is which version of Android will be shipped (if ever) with this split-personality phone -- our money's on Ice Cream Sandwich, given that this flavor will happily cater both phone and tablet form factors later this year. That said, given the uniqueness of this product, ASUS could probably still get away with taking a step back and launch this as a Gingerbread tablet. Well, we shall dig up more answers for y'all tomorrow, and stay tuned for some sweet hands-on time.

Continue reading This is the ASUS PadFone

This is the ASUS PadFone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 May 2011 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA refreshes mobile graphics with GeForce GTX 560M, attracts ASUS, MSI, Toshiba and Alienware

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/29/nvidia-refreshes-mobile-graphics-with-geforce-gtx-560m-attr/

If you've enjoyed NVIDIA's fine tradition of merely bumping along its GPUs time and again and affixing a new badge, you'll like the GeForce GTX 560M -- it's much like last year's GTX 460M, but with more bang for the buck than ever. ASUS, MSI, Alienware, Toshiba and Clevo have all committed to new notebooks bearing the graphics processor in light of the potent performance NVIDIA claims it will bring: Namely, those same 192 CUDA cores (now clocked at 1550MHz) and up to 3GB of GDDR5 memory (now clocked at 1250MHz, with a 192-bit bus) should enable the latest games to run at playable framerates on a 1080p screen, with maximum detail (save antialiasing). Of course, that also assumes you've got a recent quad-core Sandy Bridge processor and gobs upon gobs of RAM, but NVIDIA also says that with the built-in Optimus switchable graphics, those same potent laptops should be able to manage five hours of battery life while idling.

If you're looking for the bare minimum in discrete graphics, however, NVIDIA's also got a refresh there, as the GeForce GT 520MX bumps up all the clock speeds of the GT 520M. When can you expect a mobile GPU to knock the GTX 485M off its silicon throne, though? Glad you asked: a chart shows a "Next-gen GTX" coming late this year. See what NVIDIA says the GTX 560M's capable of in the gallery below and a video after the break.

Continue reading NVIDIA refreshes mobile graphics with GeForce GTX 560M, attracts ASUS, MSI, Toshiba and Alienware

NVIDIA refreshes mobile graphics with GeForce GTX 560M, attracts ASUS, MSI, Toshiba and Alienware originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 May 2011 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Smiling Stool Gives Hope

Source: http://www.yankodesign.com/2011/05/26/smiling-stool-gives-hope/

The Smile Stool is the result of a study on the declining Indonesian furniture industry, that in recent years has had incredible difficulty competing its handmade craftsmanship against China’s mass manufactured products. In addition, the more than 3500 Indonesian companies often end up with huge amounts of excess material that often ends up as firewood. Using the waste in the construction & streamlining a simple assembly process, this sustainable design gives hope to the industry & provides a solution for the survival of the local craftsman.

Designer: Fitorio Leksono

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How Many Spam Mails Does It Take to Sell $100 of Viagra? [Factoid]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5805930/how-many-spam-mails-does-it-take-to-sell-100-of-viagra

12.5 million. It's a staggering number to just get a ridiculous $100. Unfortunately, it's worth for the spammers—billions of mails are sent every day by zombie computers all around the world. Fortunately, there may be a simple solution.

A new research paper by a team of Californian computer scientists shows the way: According to their research on almost one billion messages, 95 of all credit card sales generated by spam mails are handled by three banks from Azerbaijan, Denmark and the West Indies.

That means that, if you get those banks to cut business with the illegal spammers—and chase any other financial institutions that may spring to take their position, I guess—then you will be able to kill the spam. No way to collect money means no business, as Stefan Savage of the University of California, San Diego, explains to NYT's John Markoff:

In the end, spam is an advertising business. However, it only makes sense if you can find a way to take people's money. This means credit cards. Credit cards are the only payment platform that is ubiquitously available to Western consumers and can be used for Internet commerce.

It makes total sense. If you kill that critical part, it's game over for the spammers. Of course, that means that the banks and the credit card companies would stop collecting their juicy commissions. But, for the good of the worldwide communications, I'm sure every authority in the world would be willing to punch some fat cats on the bracket. [UCSD (PDF) via New York Times]

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A New Netflix Update for Android is Here [Blip]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5806103/a-new-netflix-update-for-android-is-here

Ooh, a new version of Netflix landed in the Android Market today. The update enabled streaming on the LG Revolution, Motorola Droid and Casio G'zOne Commando. Don't shake your head in disbelief, you read that list correctly. The Commando really did get the update before the flasghip Motorola Xoom. [Android Market via Android Central]

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Buffalo's 256GB SSD comes with 6GBps SATA interface, silly price tag

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/26/buffalo-introduces-256gb-ssd-with-sata-6gbps-interface/

The SSD market is about to get a little more crowded, now that Buffalo has unveiled a new, 256GB fatty. The company's SSD-N256S/MC400 has a SATA 6Gbps interface, supports multi-level cell NAND Flash memory and boasts read and write speeds of up to 405 MB/s and 223 MB/s, respectively. If you're interested in grabbing one, you'll have to shell out a cool ¥72,200 ($882). Or, you could get an even faster SSD for less money. The choice is yours.

Buffalo's 256GB SSD comes with 6GBps SATA interface, silly price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Wallet mobile payment service, Google Offers announced

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/26/google-wallet-mobile-payment-service-google-offers-announced/

It may not be as big a surprise as Google hoped it would be at this point, but the company has now officially announced its NFC-based Google Wallet mobile payment service, complete with backing from a number of retail and financial partners including Subway, Macy's, Walgreens, Toys 'R Us, First Data, Citibank and MasterCard -- plus Sprint on the carrier side. In the case of MasterCard, that partnership means Google Wallet will be fully compatible with the PayPass contactless payment system that's already widely in place today. Trials are beginning immediately in New York and San Francisco, with a full release planned for this summer. Initially, the Sprint Nexus S 4G will be the only compatible phone, but support for more phones is promised "over time," and Google even suggested that phones without built-in NFC could simply use an NFC sticker (the Google Wallet app itself will work on non-NFC phones as well). You'll also have to use either a Citi MasterCard or Google Prepaid Card with the service, although the latter can obviously be funded from any other card.

Also announced today is Google Offers, which will deliver an "offer of the day" to your inbox, and let you seek out other offers from retailers. Of course, it also ties into Google Wallet, and you'll be able to both redeem offers and receive loyalty rewards from retailers with just a tap of your NFC-enabled phone. As far as Google is concerned, however, mobile payments and special offers are just the beginning for Google Wallet. It eventually sees everything from boarding passes to tickets to IDs (and even keys) being stored on your phone. Not surprisingly, all of this is US-only for the time being, but Google is apparently working on international expansion. Head on past the break for a video and the complete press release.

Gallery: Google Wallet

Gallery: Google Offers

Continue reading Google Wallet mobile payment service, Google Offers announced

Google Wallet mobile payment service, Google Offers announced originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 12:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Wallet vending on Nexus S hands-on

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/26/google-wallet-vending-on-nexus-s-hands-on/

We just got done watching the unveil of how Google is going to revolutionize the way you pay for denim shorts at the mall, and we just got to try it in a slightly different way -- buying a Coke out of a vending machine. The process is as easy as can be: just select your beverage and, when you're ready to pay, swipe your phone. In a few seconds out pops your frosty beverage and somewhere Santa Claus laughs merrily. It's retail bliss and a lot easier than fishing filthy coins out of your skinny jeans. Check out the short video after the break -- the break that refreshes.

Gallery: Google Wallet Hands-On

Continue reading Google Wallet vending on Nexus S hands-on

Google Wallet vending on Nexus S hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA 3D Vision machines get 3D YouTube video support on Firefox

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/26/nvidia-3d-vision-machines-get-3d-youtube-video-support-on-firefo/

NVIDIA and YouTube made a rather caveat-heavy announcement today that promises to bring stereoscopic 3D YouTube videos to NVIDIA 3D Vision PCs and notebooks, running Firefox 4. If you're rocking an NVIDIA GeForce GPU-equipped machine, sporting driver release 275 or later, a 3D Vision monitor, notebook, projector, or DLP HDTV, and Firefox 4 with streaming HTML5, you've got access to all the 3D goodness YouTube has to offer -- given you're not trying to access content via a standard YouTube channel, as the outfit's HTML5 support is still limited. And don't forget, you'll need your active shutter 3D glasses handy, too. So, if you fit all of the aforementioned criteria, check out the demo video after break (and make sure to hit the HTML5 function under options) -- otherwise, feel free to go on using the old cyan and red method for viewing YouTube in 3D. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading NVIDIA 3D Vision machines get 3D YouTube video support on Firefox

NVIDIA 3D Vision machines get 3D YouTube video support on Firefox originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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