Comcast smears the XFINITY brand across all its services

Apparently worried its On Demand Online project would suffer the shame of a silly name all by its lonely, Comcast has rebranded its cable TV, internet and phone services as Xfinity TV, Xfinity Internet and Xfinity Voice. Other than the name not much is changing (@ComcastCares will still be doing its thing on Twitter), although the rollout of the new branding (starting next week, the first 11 markets include Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Hartford, Augusta, Chattanooga, parts of the Bay Area and San Francisco) should sync up with 50mbps or high speeds becoming available. Of course, if those slick flame colored letter started showing up on TV repair guy trucks at the same time as a truly revolutionary new DVR software package instead of the slightly spruced up version we’ll be getting over the next few months, then they could call it anything they want to.

Comcast smears the XFINITY brand across all its services originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indian mobile carriers scramble as illegal towers are shut down

Apparently the dizzying expansion of mobile coverage in India has proceeded a little quicker than the regulatory process there — Indian carriers are in a bit of a tizzy after authorities shut down 300 allegedly illegal towers in a suburb of New Delhi called Noida. The gub’mint says the towers are on private land that’s not approved for commercial use, but the carriers say the move is “arbitrary and uncalled for,” and even “inhuman” because the loss of service means people can’t make emergency calls. That’s a strong card to play — let’s hope this gets sorted out soon.

Indian mobile carriers scramble as illegal towers are shut down originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Director of National Intelligence says major cyber attack could wreak havoc on the U.S. of A.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told the National Intelligence Committee that the United States is at risk of a “crippling” cyber-attack, and without the proper tools to defend against such an attack. Blair counseled the US to “deal with that reality,” saying that catastrophic consequences would result if it did not deal with said reality. Specific problem areas he cited include the fact that more and more, foreign companies supply both the hardware and software for private businesses. Blair also noted the fact that the net has served as a breeding ground for “homegrown radicalism.” You don’t say? Hit the source link a fuller detail of yesterday’s proceedings.

Director of National Intelligence says major cyber attack could wreak havoc on the U.S. of A. originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM CEO says netbooks could eventually grab 90 percent of PC market

Think netbooks are on their way out? Not according to ARM CEO Warren East, who said in a recent interview with PC Pro that while netbooks now only represent 10% or so of the PC market, he believes that “over the next several years that could completely change around and that could be 90% of the PC market.” Obviously, he also thinks that would be a huge boon to ARM, and notes that while the main CPU in most netbooks may not be an ARM processor, there are probably at least two or three ARM chips of some sort in each netbook sold. In fairness, we assume that East means netbooks will evolve significantly from their present state over those next several years — but, still, ninety percent?

Update: In the company’s earnings call preceding the interview, Warren East also dropped a few tidbits about ARM’s roadmap, noting that, “Cortex-A9 will comfortably run at those sorts of frequencies (1GHz) and, indeed, with physical IP optimization, we demonstrated can scale up to 2 gigahertz today.” East further added that the “other Cortex-A9 has a lot more headroom to go, it’s a multi-processor design, so you can have quad-core — or up to quad-core implementation.”

ARM CEO says netbooks could eventually grab 90 percent of PC market originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amoeba-inspired ChIMERA robot slithers on video

Continue reading Amoeba-inspired ChIMERA robot slithers on video

Amoeba-inspired ChIMERA robot slithers on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader

We’re not surprised anymore when another company jumps on the ever-fattening e-reader bandwagon, because really, pretty much everyone is making one now… including, apparently, companies we thought had basically ceased to exist. That’s right folks, Neonode is seemingly back from the dead (though truth be told it looks like the company was never actually fully cold), pumping its touchscreen tech — called zForce and made specifically for e-readers — into Taiwanese company Koobe’s just announced Jin Young reader. We don’t have fully specs on this bad boy by any means, but we know that it’s going to be a 6-inch e-paper styled affair with 2GB of memory (and up to 16GB by way of microSD). The reader claims to be the thinnest device boasting a touchscreen ever made, and should make its way to retail in April (in Taiwan) for somewhere between NT10,000 and NT13,000 (that’s between $312 and $405), depending on the content agreement. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader

Neonode lives: zForce e-reader touchscreen gets pumped into Koobe Jin Young reader originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nanopool’s spray-on liquid glass could keep bacteria, water off of pretty much anything

You know, we’re beginning to wonder exactly what’s genuine anymore. Our foods are being built in laboratories, our glass panes are being unwillingly converted to touch panels, and now, exposed objects don’t even have to get grimy over the course of time. It’s a travesty, we say. All disappointing rants aside, we have to confess that we’re actually enthused about a newly developed spray-on silicon dioxide solution that promises to protect just about any surface from water, bacteria, dirt and UV radiation. The so-called “liquid glass” is said to be completely harmless to the environment, and creator Nanopool hopes that it can be used eventually on car coatings, clothing and even the nose cones of high-speed trains. Here’s hoping it comes in a spray can — our decade-old keyboard and mouse could probably use a coat of this.

[Thanks, Pierre]

Nanopool’s spray-on liquid glass could keep bacteria, water off of pretty much anything originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zune HD drops $30-$40 at Amazon, Newegg

Zune HD drops $30-$40 at Amazon, Newegg originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No-glasses 3D display with 64 viewing angles to debut at CeBIT

Singaporean outfit Sunny Ocean Studios is pledging to put all of the autostereoscopic 3D we’ve seen so far to shame with a new 27-inch display offering 64 viewing angles it will show at CeBIT. A serious upgrade from the 8 or 9 viewing angle lenticular displays we saw at CES this year, the company claims it’s ready to refit regular displays for 3D and also assist in 2D-to-3D image conversion. We’ve got all of the usual questions lined up like how will this affect resolution, what’s necessary to render the necessary 64 different frames for each viewing angle and of course, how much does it cost, but founder Armin Grasnick says his company can handle screens of up to 100-inches quickly and inexpensively, likely by not wasting precious R&D funds on website design. The current state of 3D is glasses all the way, but we could get a peek at the next step March 2 in Germany.

No-glasses 3D display with 64 viewing angles to debut at CeBIT originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re turning comments off for a bit

Hey guys, we know you like to have your fun, voice your opinions, and argue over your favorite gear, but over the past few days the tone in comments has really gotten out of hand. What is normally a charged — but fun — environment for our users and editors has become mean, ugly, pointless, and frankly threatening in some situations… and that’s just not acceptable. Some of you out there in the world of anonymous grandstanding have gotten the impression that you run the place, but that’s simply not the case.

Luckily, our commenting community makes up only a small percentage of our readership (and the bad eggs an even smaller part of that number), so while they may be loud, they don’t speak for most people who come to Engadget looking for tech news. Regardless, we’re going to crank things down for a little bit to let everyone just cool off, and we’ll switch them back on when we feel like we’ve shaken some of the trolls and spammers loose from the branches (AKA swing the banhammer in our downtime). See you on the other side!

We’re turning comments off for a bit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3

It’s finally here: Wndows Mobile 6.5.3, the iterative finger-friendly Windows Mobile release that should have been wrapped into 6.5.0. It comes wrapped inside the Sony Ericsson Aspen.

Developing…

Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zune HD Facebook app will be ready when it’s ready

Sit down, child, we’ve got some bad news. This is going to come as a real blow, but the Zune HD Facebook app, the one promised to be here by the end of January, isn’t going to make it in time. Microsoft has said it’s “still coming soon” but that it just isn’t going to be done until at least February. We realize how hard this will be for you, since there are just so few ways to log into your FB account (or someone else’s) right now, but you’re just going to have to be strong. It’ll be here eventually, and when it does that den of sin will finally turn into the profanity-free social network we’ve always talked about.

Zune HD Facebook app will be ready when it’s ready originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DIY scanner cuts out the hassle, keeps the fun of Super 8 film scanning

DIY scanner cuts out the hassle, keeps the fun of Super 8 film scanning originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Steorn livestream to settle the case for overunity once and for all… or something like that

Steorn livestream to settle the case for overunity once and for all… or something like that originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kingston’s SSDNow V+ series hits 512GB capacity, adds Trim support

Kingston’s upping the ante on its solid state drive series in pretty much all the ways that count. The SSDNow V+ line boasts a 512GB upper limit, twice the previous generation, with iterative options for 256GB, 128GB, and 64GB. Read / write speeds have more than doubled to 230MB/sec and 180MB/sec, respectively. Best of all, these suckers now support TRIM. Prices range from as low as $268 for standalone 64GB an can go as high as $1968 for 512GB, with an extra $15 or so tacked on if you want the bundle instead — still alluring, still not for the feint of funding, but the good news is, if you don’t need Trim or the extra speed, the original SSDNow V series is available for much smaller dents on your wallet.

Kingston’s SSDNow V+ series hits 512GB capacity, adds Trim support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Timex readying GPS-equipped Ironman Global Trainer wristwatch

It’s been a white hot minute since we’ve seen a snazzy new timepiece from the labs at Timex, but it seems that the outfit will finally be dishing out a new GPS-laden watch a year after introducing the Expedition WS4. Set to debut next month, the Ironman Global Trainer with GPS is easily one of the slimmest, most not-ugly GPS watches we’ve ever seen. At a glance, you’d never know that such features as real-time speed, pace and distance data were included courtesy of the SiRFstarIII module tucked within, and you’ll also get 50 meters of water resistance, a customizable display to showcase four metrics at once and the ability to push performance reports out to your PC. The device will be compatible with Timex heart rate and bike sensors, not to mention any third-party power meters utilizing ANT+ wireless technology. Unfortunately, next month’s reveal will only let you know that it’ll ship this May to REI stores here in the States, while the rest of the world will have to wait until September to strap one on.

Continue reading Timex readying GPS-equipped Ironman Global Trainer wristwatch

Timex readying GPS-equipped Ironman Global Trainer wristwatch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hermit nap station provides peace and quiet for bloggers on the move (video)

As many a nomadic modern road warrior knows all too well, while you can get Internet access, juice for your laptop, and phone service on-the-go, privacy is at a premium. Thankfully, an Australian Design Science student named Kerry Jia Yi Lin has developed a little something called Hermit — an “experimental interactive shell” that uses RFID tags to know when you’ve crossed your arms and set your head down for a nap. Once you’ve assumed the position, the felt shell closes above you, providing “a personal refuge in a communal environment.” Sounds nice and peaceful, no? If you’d like to see it in action, we’ve got a video for you after the break. If you prefer a low-tech version, we suppose you could just throw a coat over your head.

Continue reading Hermit nap station provides peace and quiet for bloggers on the move (video)

Hermit nap station provides peace and quiet for bloggers on the move (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG’s Classic TV gives old CRT new legs

In these complex, digital days, it’s easy to yearn for simpler, analog times — when everything was daisy-chained coax cable and all you needed was the odd RF adapter to get your gaming on. LG is taking its customers back in time with the Classic TV, an honest to gosh CRT clothed in period-appropriate attire. While it does break with tradition slightly by including a remote control, it offers nicely tactile dials and even a set of color-matched rabbit ears, making it the perfect thing for hooking up your Famicom or watching Astroboy re-runs. It’s available now in Korea, your choice of basic black or cheeky red for ? 249,000. That equates to about $215, but don’t go looking for it in your local Caldor flier.

LG’s Classic TV gives old CRT new legs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hailrazer’s Kamikaze 64 is the most polished portable N64 yet (video)

Money talks, and, in the world of custom hardware, occasionally yields some amazing results. Such is the case with Hailrazer’s latest handheld console mod, the Kamikaze 64. It’s a portable version of Nintendo’s decidedly wired Nintendo 64 that someone commissioned him to build, probably after seeing his impressive NCube portable GameCube. This one is equally comprehensive, and while it doesn’t compete against either of the supposed world’s smallest portable N64s, it does offer the full suite of controls, plus input for a second controller, video output, and even includes the controller’s I/O port on the back. (That means it’s Controller Pak compatible, and its future owner can take his or her all-time greatest Mario Kart 64 ghost replays on the road.) No word on how much the mystery commissioner paid for this one, but we’re thinking they got a good deal.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

Continue reading Hailrazer’s Kamikaze 64 is the most polished portable N64 yet (video)

Hailrazer’s Kamikaze 64 is the most polished portable N64 yet (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony launches EX300, EX500, and EX700 Bravia TVs in Japan

Your HDTV comparison list just got a little longer, with Sony announcing a big long line of new Bravia LCDs of all shapes and sizes. Lowest end is the EX300, with 22-, 26-, and 32-inch models that all sport 1,366 x 768 resolutions, a suite of silly colors (white, pink, brown, and black), and prices ranging from ¥70,000 – ¥90,000 ($770 – $990). The EX500 is a ¥130,000 ($1,400) 40-inch, 120Hz, 1080p model, while the EX700 models range from 32- to 52-inches and will set you back between ¥120,000 ($1,300) and ¥300,000 ($3,300). The extra money nets you LED backlighting, luscious thinness (22mm), and networkability, which means YouTube and DLNA streamability, plus widgets and all sorts of other goodies. All are scheduled to hit Japan on February 25, and all will surely make their way across the pond eventually — except maybe that pink one.

Sony launches EX300, EX500, and EX700 Bravia TVs in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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