Friday, November 11, 2011

drag2share: Apple's US online store begins selling unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S: $649 and up

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/11/apples-us-online-store-begins-selling-unlocked-contract-free-i/

You can't expect to see one for "one to two weeks," but those hellbent on holding out for an unlocked iPhone 4S here in the US of A can finally snag one without jetting off to Australia (among other places). Nearly five months to the day after Apple started selling the iPhone 4 in unlocked fashion in the States, the iPhone 4S is joining the club, with a 16GB model going for $649, a 32GB model for $749 and a 64GB variant for $849. Just so you're aware, the unlocked phone enables you to use any micro-SIM from any GSM carrier worldwide, but it won't play nice with CDMA carriers "such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint." And yes, both the black and white versions are up for order. Hit the source link to part ways with your chosen amount of cash.

[Thanks, Hicham]

Apple's US online store begins selling unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S: $649 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 09:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: This Online Gaming Service Got Hacked And 35 Million People Are Affected

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/steam-hacked-2011-11


half life 2

Steam, an Internet gaming service, was compromised by hackers this past Sunday, reports the BBC.

The service boasts 35 million users, which makes this an especially serious exposure of data -- the hackers illegitimately accessed a database containing credit card info and users' personal information, such as billing addresses, passwords, and purchase history.

Valve, the company that owns and operates Steam, issued a statement saying that it saw no indications that the exposed credit cards were being used illegitimately.

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell issued the following statement on the Steam Forums:

Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users:

Our Steam forums were defaced on the evening of Sunday, November 6. We began investigating and found that the intrusion goes beyond the Steam forums.

We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.

We don’t have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely.

While we only know of a few forum accounts that have been compromised, all forum users will be required to change their passwords the next time they login. If you have used your Steam forum password on other accounts you should change those passwords as well.

We do not know of any compromised Steam accounts, so we are not planning to force a change of Steam account passwords (which are separate from forum passwords). However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change that as well, especially if it is the same as your Steam forum account password.

We will reopen the forums as soon as we can.

I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Gabe.

 

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drag2share: Light Paint Can—Photographic Vandalism for Polite Society [Photography]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5858546/light-paint-canphotographic-vandalism-for-a-polite-society

Light Paint Can—Photographic Vandalism for Polite SocietyUnless your name rhymes with "Anksy" or you've got the chops to do burners like this, you might want to consider a less...permanent means of expressing yourself in the public space. The Light Spray Can might just be the answer.

Instead of spraying paint, the Light Spray Can emits a high-intensity beam of UV light. When combined with long-exposure camera shots, you can achieve stunning light-painted results. In addition to the spray-can shaped UV light, the kit includes letter stencils and a UV-sensitive backdrop that holds the light longer, allowing for more intricate works. The Light Spray Can runs on a single AA battery and retails for $39 at Photojojo.


You can keep up with Andrew Tarantola, the author of this post, on Twitter or Google+.

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drag2share: Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/corsair-unveils-performance-pro-series-ssds-loads-em-with-6gb/

SandForce-equipped SSDs are seemingly all the rage nowadays, but lest we forget that others, like Marvell, have some peppy controllers of their own. Step up Corsair, who's just announced its new Marvell-equipped line of SATA 3 Performance Pro Series 6Gb/s SSDs. These 2.5-inch storage slabs can achieve 515 MB/s read and 440 MB/s sequential write speeds, and sports a TRIM-like "built-in advanced background garbage collection," which company deems helpful for RAID setups. Notably, desktop users will be pleased to know that the drives will mount into 3.5-inch slots via an included adapter. If you're interested, $280 will snag you a 128GB version, while $530 doubles the capacity to 256GB. You'll find more details in the press release past the break.

Continue reading Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers

Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AnandTech, Hot Hardware  |  sourceCorsair  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Honda's Small Sports EV concept proves electric can be svelte, comes to Tokyo Motor Show next month

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/hondas-small-sports-ev-concept-proves-electric-can-be-svelte-c/

Honda fans, hope you're down for some last-minute tickets to Japan, as the automaker plans to release not one, but seven (!) stunning concepts at the upcoming Tokyo Motor show. Ranging from plug-in hybrids to electric motorcycles, we're most stoked about the Small Sports EV -- a dashing two-seat roadster that reminds us stylistically of BMW's i8. Details are light, but Honda promises that it'll be fun to drive, yet also achieve "excellent environmental performance." Alongside it is the plug-in hybrid AC-X, which looks like an LED-ridden redux of the lease-only FCX. And finally, there's the Micro Commuter concept, which despite looking the least production-ready of the three, gets kudos for having a dedicated spot to load the accompanying Motor Compo EV motorcycle. Not much else to report on all seven this far out, but that doesn't mean you can't ogle at photos of these three and their motorcycle brethren at the links below.

Continue reading Honda's Small Sports EV concept proves electric can be svelte, comes to Tokyo Motor Show next month

Honda's Small Sports EV concept proves electric can be svelte, comes to Tokyo Motor Show next month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Car, Autoblog  |  sourceHonda  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: CRP Racing debuts Energica electric streetbike prototype at EICMA 2011

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/cpr-racing-debuts-energica-electric-streetbike-prototype-at-eicm/

You might not need an electric streetbike in the near future, but it's still cool to know that the prototype is complete. CRP Racing has just introduced the Energica at the EICMA motorcyle show in Italy. The Energica slides an all-electric powertrain with 100kW of power into a classic Italian-style two wheeler the is capable of speeds up to 220 km/h, 16kgm of torque, and 150km of range on a single charge, features OZ forged aluminum braking discs and a power train efficiency around 95 percent. The niftiness is only compounded by front double caliper radial mounts, a single rear fixed caliper, digital multifunction LCD dashboard and LED headlights. Pricing begins with a deposit of €1,500 ($2042 US) and doesn't include VAT. Of course, the Energica is still in the development phase, so final pricing and specifications might change. Still, if an electric streetbike isn't at least as cool as a penguin in a freezer, then something's wrong with your freezer.

Continue reading CRP Racing debuts Energica electric streetbike prototype at EICMA 2011

CRP Racing debuts Energica electric streetbike prototype at EICMA 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceCRP Racing, Energica  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Sony's CEO is ready to launch a four-screen platform 'that can compete with Steve Jobs'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/11/sonys-ceo-is-ready-to-launch-a-four-screen-platform-that-can-c/

After announcing that it would completely revamp its struggling TV business after yet another quarter of financial setbacks, what's next for Sony? CEO Howard Stringer tells the Wall Street Journal that R&D is focusing on a "different kind of TV set." He didn't specify whether he was talking about the company's efforts with Google TV or any other technology, however he did note the "really well organized" beauty of the iPhone and said that after a five year quest to build a platform that would compete with Steve Jobs, it's finally ready to launch. This all hinges on Sony's ability to pull its four screens (phones, tablets, PCs, TVs) together with network services like Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited (and hopefully make those Qriocity-birthed offerings famous for something other than being a footnote in its hacking scandal). Sony has finally begun to acknowledge its weaknesses in software and providing a uniform user experience, we'll probably find out more about how it plans to turn that around a! t CES 20 12 in January.

Sony's CEO is ready to launch a four-screen platform 'that can compete with Steve Jobs' originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

drag2share: Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/corsair-unveils-performance-pro-series-ssds-loads-em-with-6gb/

SandForce-equipped SSDs are seemingly all the rage nowadays, but lest we forget that others, like Marvell, have some peppy controllers of their own. Step up Corsair, who's just announced its new Marvell-equipped line of SATA 3 Performance Pro Series 6Gb/s SSDs. These 2.5-inch storage slabs can achieve 515 MB/s read and 440 MB/s sequential write speeds, and sports a TRIM-like "built-in advanced background garbage collection," which company deems helpful for RAID setups. Notably, desktop users will be pleased to know that the drives will mount into 3.5-inch slots via an included adapter. If you're interested, $280 will snag you a 128GB version, while $530 doubles the capacity to 256GB. You'll find more details in the press release past the break.

Continue reading Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers

Corsair unveils Performance Pro Series SSDs, loads 'em with 6Gb/s Marvell controllers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AnandTech, Hot Hardware  |  sourceCorsair  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: CHART OF THE DAY: Amazingly, Ringtones Are Still A $2 Billion Business

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-online-music-sales-2011-11


Here's a breakdown of online music sales from Gartner, by way of Peter Kafka at All Things D. The most insane thing about this chart? How important ringtones are.

Kafka says it better than we can:

"To sum up: More than 10 years after Napster, one of the key pillars of the music business is ringtones, a business that peaked around 2005, when some of you would have recognized the image at the top right of this post.

If you’re reading this, you probably haven’t paid for a ringtone since 2007, and you probably don’t know anyone who does. But there it is, generating two-point-one-billion dollars."

chart of the day, online music revenue worlwide 2011, november 10, 2011

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drag2share: Packard Bell trims the fat on PB oneTwo all-in-one desktop PC line

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/packard-bell-trims-the-fat-on-pb-onetwo-all-in-one-desktop-pc-li/

Don't look now, UKers -- but you've got yet another option in the burgeoning world of all-in-one PCs. Thrilling, we know. Packard Bell has just issued the revamped PB oneTwo, an all-in-one PC line that may very well end up referred to as "PB 12" in your domicile. Nomenclature aside, this freshened up device is a full 65 percent slimmer than the one your mate purchased two years ago, giving you 65 percent more reason to brag about it once you've taken delivery. It's available in 21.5-inch and 23-inch flavors, with Intel's 2nd-generation Core i CPU family, NVIDIA or AMD graphics, a pair of 2.5-watt speakers, two USB 3.0 sockets (along with four of the slower USB 2.0 variety), an optional Blu-ray drive, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory and a 1,920 x 1,080 display on the both of 'em. You'll also get a 2 megapixel webcam, multi-format card reader, optional (seriously?) WiFi / Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet and a bundled keyboard and mouse. The PB oneTwo M (21.5-inch) and PB oneTwo L (23-inch) will ship later this month for £599 and £699, respectively, though there's no word on availability beyond the Queen's backyard.

Continue reading Packard Bell trims the fat on PB oneTwo all-in-one desktop PC line

Packard Bell trims the fat on PB oneTwo all-in-one desktop PC line originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink&! nbsp;HotHardware  |  sourcePackard Bell  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Nokia's Humanform concept phone, not shaped like us (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/nokias-humanform-concept-phone-not-shaped-like-us-video/

We barely recovered from Nokia's futuristic concept buffet at Nokia World, but a new video has unearthed the deceptively named Humanform. Fortunately not shaped like a dolly, this teardrop device cooked up Nokia's in-house labs supposedly uses some as-yet unexplained nanotechnology, with a bendable transparent display and a fully touch sensitive casing. The segmented design also channels some Wiimote-esque gesture features and twist controls seen on the phone behemoth's Kinetic Device. An inert Humanform shell was also on show alongside it last month, although it didn't do much aside from bending. See if you agree with Nokia's vision of the mobile future after the break.

Continue reading Nokia's Humanform concept phone, not shaped like us (video)

Nokia's Humanform concept phone, not shaped like us (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNokia Conversations  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/samsung-galaxy-tab-8-9-review/

What is the optimal size for a modern-day tablet? Is it 10 inches? Is it seven? Or, is it something smaller, like the economy-sized smartphone that is the Galaxy Note? We can't say for sure, but we surely can say that Samsung is as much in the dark as we are. Like a gadgety Goldilocks traipsing between an endless sea of options, that company seems completely unable to make up its mind, splitting niches into sub-niches and then cleaving those in twain again with a seemingly endless array of fractionally different tablets.

Today we're looking at the Galaxy Tab 8.9. This powerful slate exists because, apparently, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is too big and the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus is too small. Is the $449 8.9 just right, then? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Intel's Haswell detailed: three different GPUs, single-chip solution for ultrabooks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/intels-haswell-detailed-three-different-gpus-single-chip-solu/

Haswell
The demo of the 22nm Haswell running on a tiny solar cell at IDF was impressive, but it didn't really give us any idea what shipping products might look like. Well, a few slides popped up over at Chiphell that give us a few more details about how the tock, to Ivy Bridge's tick, is shaping up. For one, were looking at three new on-die GPUs, dubbed GT1, GT2 and GT3 -- the latter of which may be a higher performance part than we're used to seeing out of Intel. We also know that Haswell will have three variants: desktop, laptop (both of which are two-chip solutions with a separate controller hub) and ultrabook, which packs both the CPU and the controller in a single package. If you're in the mood to dig a little deeper hit up the source links.

Intel's Haswell detailed: three different GPUs, single-chip solution for ultrabooks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AnandTech  |  sourceVR-Zone, Chiphell (login required)  | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: ARM Planning OCTO-CORE Mobile Graphics Processor for 2013 [Guts]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5858201/arm-planning-octo+core-mobile-graphics-processor-for-2013

ARM Planning OCTO-CORE Mobile Graphics Processor for 2013Chip company ARM has announced its latest processor evolution, in the form of its Mali-T658 GPU. ARM says this'll provide "desktop-class performance" with "ten times" the power of the 400 series found in the Galaxy S II.

The Mali-T658 offers PC and console gaming image enhancement features like 4x Full Scene Anti-Aliasing, plus it can be scaled up to run across eight cores. But you can still allow yourself a brief period of excitement about quad-core devices, as ARM says its newest GPU won't make it into consumer products until 2013.

ARM has also put an extremely bonkers teaser of the sort of graphics and utilities the processor can produce up on YouTube. It's proper 'Tomorrow's World' stuff. [ARM via BBC via Gizmodo UK]


ARM Planning OCTO-CORE Mobile Graphics Processor for 2013Our newest offspring Gizmodo UK is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix.

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drag2share: ARM's Mali-T658 GPU aims to beat the world in 2013; president Tudor Brown steps down

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/arms-mali-t658-gpu-aims-to-beat-the-world-in-2013-president-tu/

Here's an ARM duo to digest this fine morning -- ARM's president (and co-founder) Tudor Brown has announced that he'll be retiring in May after serving a bit over a score with the company. His final day will be May 3rd of next year, with Chairman Doug Dunn confessing that Brown had played "an important role in the creation and successful development of ARM over the past 21 years and has made an immense contribution in a wide range of positions." Oddly enough, a company spokesperson has stated that ARM has "no plans at this stage to replace Mr. Brown," though we suspect that could change as the date draws closer.

In more product-related news, the company's forthcoming (and by "forthcoming," we mean "perhaps by the end of 2013") Mali-T658 GPU should provide a 10x improvement in performance over the existing Mali-400. According to a slide hosted up over at AnandTech, it'll offer double the shader cores per GPU, twice the arithmetic pipes per shader core and "extensive" API support. For those unaware, the Mali-400 MP4 is a real barnburner for the Android platform, and given that the T658 can scale to eight cores, we're guessing you may have just made your mind up about timing on your next smartphone purchase. Hit the links below to dig in deeper, but remember -- 2013 is about an eternity from now. Depressing, we know.

ARM's Mali-T658 GPU aims to beat the world in 2013; president Tudor Brown steps down originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal, BBC  | Email this | Comments

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