Sprint pulls piping hot Hero update out of the oven
November 18, 2009
We don’t have details on exactly what has changed yet, but that minor Android 1.5-based update Sprint had announced it’d be pushing out to the Hero has now launched. The best-case scenario would have the SMS issue — which causes the phone to stay awake when it shouldn’t — get resolved, but until Sprint hands out a proper changelog, it’ll be a matter of testing and guessing. Just a thought: if they’ve managed to squeeze a proximity sensor into the update, that brings ‘em up to the speed with the Droid Eris. Hey, it could happen.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sprint pulls piping hot Hero update out of the oven originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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OCZ’s Colossus desktop SSD line ships next week
November 18, 2009
OCZ Technology has been trumpeting its Colossus SSD desktop solution since June, but due to some strange issues with the housing that have been troubling engineers for the past few months, the company has been forced to quietly push back the expected release date. At any rate, the company has informed us that the drives — which will arrive in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB flavors and tout maximum read / writes rates of 260MB/s — will begin shipping to retailers “next week.” If you’re lucky, you might catch one or two e-tailers selling their stock early, but first you’ll need to figure out where exactly that $300, $650, $1,200 or $2,200 (in order of mention) is going to come from.
Filed under: Storage
OCZ’s Colossus desktop SSD line ships next week originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony Reader follows Kindle to the Great White North, conquers entire high school (video)
November 18, 2009
Why, it was just yesterday that Amazon finally acknowledged the existence of our friendly neighbors to the north, saying “Why not?” before shipping a few Kindles northward. Now Sony is announcing its Reader is also set to take off, but in a very different way. The Reader has always been available in Canada (no pesky wireless contracts to negotiate), but ownership will now be compulsory for students at Toronto’s Blyth Academy, who will each be provided with a Touch Edition and who must surely be a little nervous after what happened at Princeton. All textbooks will be replaced by digital equivalents, meaning smaller book bags, fewer strained backs, and no more quality time with parents making covers out of brown paper bags. Slightly uncomfortable promotional video is included below.
[Via SonyInsider]
Filed under: Displays, Handhelds
Sony Reader follows Kindle to the Great White North, conquers entire high school (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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RealView’s V-Screen for PSP review
November 17, 2009
The PSP may be a lot of things to a lot of people, but it’s not capable of pumping out images in 3D — cross your eyes all you want but nothing’s going to leap off of that LCD. We’ll have to wait for at least another iteration of portables before we can start expecting any miracles in that department, but until then there’s the V-Screen! It’s a big, silly-looking attachment that pledges to add depth to your PSP games despite the system’s distinctly two-dimensional screen. Is it magic? Is it sorcery? Is it complete bull? You might be surprised.
Gallery: RealView’s V-Screen
Continue reading RealView’s V-Screen for PSP review
Filed under: Gaming
RealView’s V-Screen for PSP review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Vizit touchscreen photo frame demonstrated for your edification (video)
November 17, 2009
Continue reading Vizit touchscreen photo frame demonstrated for your edification (video)
Filed under: Displays
Vizit touchscreen photo frame demonstrated for your edification (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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PrimeDTV further saturates HD media streamer segment with PHD-HM5
November 17, 2009
Look, we’re all for competition, but it’s about time for some of these guys to stop copying and start innovating. As if your noggin’ wasn’t already spinning enough as you attempt to whittle down your laundry list of HD media streamers, in flies PrimeDTV with yet another hopeful. The PHD-HM5 looks to be fairly standard in terms of features, with HDMI / component outputs, a lengthy list of supported formats, an Ethernet socket and a pair of USB 2.0 ports. You won’t find WiFi or any internal hard drive, and you’ll have to live with the fact that this thing is akin to some lackluster AV component from the early 90s. Oh, and then there’s the chore of actually finding one for sale (not to mention an MSRP), which should probably be just enough to push you towards Popcorn Hour.
Filed under: Home Entertainment
PrimeDTV further saturates HD media streamer segment with PHD-HM5 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Droid experiencing external speaker problems, could be a software issue?
November 15, 2009
It’s no reason to panic just yet, but apparently a good amount of people are having trouble with the external speaker on their Motorola Droid cutting out for no reason. It seems to be software-related, and sometimes a reboot fixes it temporarily, but it’s a scary problem for people relying on the handset as an alarm clock (or, you know, to receive calls), since you never know when it will strike next. For its part it seems that Motorola is replacing handsets that have the issue, though that’s no guarantee of escape from the clutches of silence. Let’s hope Motorola updates us with a software patch or some other serious solution soon — people need to hear that robotic “Droooiiid” alert sound — and meanwhile let us know if you’ve been seeing a similar issue.
[Thanks, Bryan]
Filed under: Cellphones
Droid experiencing external speaker problems, could be a software issue? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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RAmos W7 spotted blazing through Android
November 15, 2009
As much fun as it is seeing the RAmos W7 in the wild, all legit and everything, what’s more exciting is seeing that Android-specific 600MHz Rockchip CPU in action again. This time it appears to be handling some pretty snappy web browsing to some fairly hefty pages, and then diving into what looks to be Flash video in an externalized, overlain player of some kind. The Android Archos 5 does a similar thing for media playback, but it’s not plugged into the browser like this, and we really haven’t seen many devices attain these sorts of browser speeds at this resolution. Sure, there’s still plenty more OS to see, but it’s good to see both of these products making a bit of good on their promises. Check out the video after the break.
[Via PMP Today]
Continue reading RAmos W7 spotted blazing through Android
Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Video
RAmos W7 spotted blazing through Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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KAIST’s HUBO shows off some newfound dexterity, hides emotions behind ill-fitting motorcycle helmet
November 15, 2009
Sometimes when we see the seemingly slow advance of Honda’s ASIMO, the inherent limitations of WowWee toys, or the purposefully limited one-off research projects of universities, we start to give up hope of being super best pals with a humanoid robot this century; hope of partaking in whimsical 80s movie hijinks, hand-in-metal-hand. This little video of the Korean Institute of Advanced Science and Technology’s recent advances on its HUBO project therefore serves as a bit of a “hope refresher,” allowing us to once again re-imagine those aforementioned scenes of whimsy with a metallic bot that can handle a sword and walk at an almost-useful pace, while inexplicably wearing a smallish, visored helmet. Sure, there’s a long way to go, but we’d just like to say that when the robot apocalypse doesn’t happen and we realize how much we really have in common with these machines we’ve built to look like us, that somewhere in late 2009 this video helped us keep on believing.
Filed under: Robots
KAIST’s HUBO shows off some newfound dexterity, hides emotions behind ill-fitting motorcycle helmet originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AdhocParty for PSP coming to North America ’soon’
November 13, 2009
Filed under: Gaming
AdhocParty for PSP coming to North America ’soon’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Engadget Podcast 171 – 11.13.2009
November 13, 2009
Hey there, web surfer. What’s cracking? Us? Oh, not much, just listening to this side-splitting episode of the Engadget Podcast on our portable listening device. Yeah, it’s the episode where Josh, Nilay and Paul find a purse on the sidewalk with $500 in it and debate whether or not to take it to the police or spend the money on pizza and arcade games. Or maybe they talk about gadgets. You should check it out! Alright, later on cool dude.
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Plush
Hear the podcast
00:04:00 – Zune HD Marketplace now loaded with free 3D games
00:05:18 – Zune HD 3D games video hands-on
00:23:22 – Dell’s Inspiron Zino HD on sale now in America: starts at $229, doubles as an HTPC
00:30:46 – Palm Pixi review
00:35:08 – Walmart’s $30 deal vaults Pixi from ‘meh’ to ’sure, I’ll take three’
00:46:44 – Ricoh GXR camera system swaps out the sensor along with the lens
00:47:17 – NVIDIA tablet mystery solved: an ODM Tegra prototype
00:52:10 – Psystar founders claim they cracked OS X, hackintosh scene is ‘all wrong’
00:59:00 – Mac OS X 10.6.2 update out on the prowl (update: Atom support is gone)
01:04:43 – Listener questions
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Contact the podcast
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Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget
Filed under: Podcasts
Engadget Podcast 171 – 11.13.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Mobinnova Beam Tegra smartbook hits the FCC en route to AT&T
November 13, 2009
Looks like AT&T will be launching at least two smartbooks at CES — the Tegra-powered Mobinnova Beam just hit the FCC database with a device ID of BEAMATT. Yeah, that’s not so subtle. Sadly the listing doesn’t have much else to say about the machine formerly known as élan, but we’re guessing we’ll find out way more about what AT&T’s got planned for these not-quite-netbooks in Vegas.
Filed under: Laptops
Mobinnova Beam Tegra smartbook hits the FCC en route to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Palm Treo 650 boots into Android, lives a fulfilling life (video)
November 13, 2009
It may be half a decade old, but don’t lie — you still whip your Treo 650 out from time to time, toss on some jean shorts and pretend that the size of your stub is synonymous with the big times. If we just rung your bell, you owe it to yourself to have a peek at the video past the break. There are no step-by-step instructions to accompany it (they’re out there, trust us), but man, you can just see the life seeping back into it as the code scrolls down and Android grows seconds closer to booting. It’s glorious, really.
[Thanks, Andrew]
Continue reading Palm Treo 650 boots into Android, lives a fulfilling life (video)
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Palm Treo 650 boots into Android, lives a fulfilling life (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Panasonic debuts MW-10 photo frame / iPod dock / sound system
November 12, 2009
Filed under: Displays, Home Entertainment
Panasonic debuts MW-10 photo frame / iPod dock / sound system originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japanese company Greenhouse launches camcorder for women
November 12, 2009
[Via Crunchgear]
Filed under: Portable Video
Japanese company Greenhouse launches camcorder for women originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Regen’s ReNu solar panel system in the flesh
November 12, 2009
While great in concept, solar powered gadgets just never seem to be very practical at the end of the day. Regen’s tweak on the formula might help a little, by stuffing a battery into the solar panel itself, meaning you don’t have to keep your iPod plugged in for a painfully long trickle charge or juggle multiple elements to make it work (there’s a USB plug on the side). ReNu also has batteries in its various docking accessories as well, all of which can be charged by the ReNu panel or by AC power. It’s not going to turn the emerging market on its head, and at $199 for the ReNu unit by itself it’s not cheap either, but it seems like a logical direction for sun-fueled devices — and looks pretty cool doing it.
Filed under: Peripherals
Regen’s ReNu solar panel system in the flesh originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iBuyPower ships Core i7-powered Battalion 101 W870CU gaming laptop
November 12, 2009
You could certainly argue that many of today’s gaming laptops are fungible, but if you’re scouting a new beast with a Core i7 within and plenty of customizable options, iBuyPower has one of the few available today. The outfit has just launched its Battalion 101 W870CU, a 17.3-inch behemoth with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution LCD, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 GPU, up to 500GB of hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray drive, built-in 7-in-1 card reader, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi and Windows 7 Home Premium. It’s up for order as we speak, but you’ll be coughing up at least $2,505 for the privilege. Or, you know, you could just snap up ASUS’ Core i7-equipped G51J, which retails for just $1,499…
iBuyPower ships Core i7-powered Battalion 101 W870CU gaming laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Switched On: Next steps toward the IP tuner
November 11, 2009
Switched On: The next step toward the IP tuner
Five years ago, the first Switched On talked about the growing coziness between the iPod photo and video. Today, of course, the iPod and many other portable media players have embraced digitally-distributed video, yet the TV itself remains on the cusp of IP content distribution. But TV manufacturers that still shudder when they think of the WebTV experience of 1996 need to get their heads out of their modem ports. For the sake of video choice, it’s time to support the broadband web of 2009 on TVs.
As we inch closer to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in January, we come upon the first anniversary of the wedding between television sets and the internet. While there were internet-enabled televisions before last year from HP and others, the online-enabled sets from Sony, Panasonic, Samsung and Vizio marked the real embrace of IP. And it wasn’t just about the hardware — the software included Yahoo’s widget architecture and Netflix streaming movies.
Continue reading Switched On: Next steps toward the IP tuner
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Switched On: Next steps toward the IP tuner originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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HP to acquire 3Com in $2.7 billion deal
November 11, 2009
It’s been a little while since we’ve seen a good multi-billion dollar acquisition, but HP’s sure come through in a big way today, announcing that it plans to acquire networking giant 3Com in an all-cash deal valued at $2.7 billion, or $7.90 a share. The deal will, of course, still have to clear a few regulatory hurdles and receive the approval of 3Com’s stockholders, but it has already been given the go-ahead by both company’s boards of directors, and HP expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2010. Not surprisingly, HP sees nothing but pluses with the acquisition, saying that it will do nothing short of “transform the networking industry,” and “enable customers to build a next-generation network infrastructure that supports customer needs from the edge of the network to the heart of the data center.” Equally optimistic but slightly cooler on the world-changing language is 3Com CEO Bob Mao, who says that its company’s “extensive product line and innovative technology together with HP’s breadth and scale will expand our global opportunity.”
Filed under: Networking
HP to acquire 3Com in $2.7 billion deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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AMEX DIGITAL’s Mac mini Blu-ray drive upgrade kit is not what it seems
November 11, 2009
A Blu-ray “upgrade kit” for Apple’s revamped Mac mini… sounds like the ultimate for home theater buffs right? After all, such a device holds the promise of adding Blu-ray playback to a relatively powerful, off-the-shelf micro computer starting at $599 that’ll run any of the amazing media center apps available for either Windows 7 (with some extra legwork) or OS X. Not so fast bub, remember, OS X still doesn’t support native playback of Blu-ray discs pressed by Hollywood’s media fairies. As such, Blu-ray films purchased on disc can only be played by booting into Windows — under OS X you are limited to reading and writing data assuming you already have software like Adobe’s Premiere Pro CS3 with Encore or Roxio’s Toast with Blu-ray plug-in. Unfortunately, AMEX Digital is purposely unclear on this point by suggesting that the kit will simply “play Hollywood Blu-ray Disc movies on a properly configured PC or MAC.” For the extra $199 required to take the BD-UG1 home, we’d suggest a native PC solution, cheapo standalone Blu-ray player or PS3 and avoid these headaches altogether. Image of the drive laid bare after the break.
[Via I4U]
Continue reading AMEX DIGITAL’s Mac mini Blu-ray drive upgrade kit is not what it seems
AMEX DIGITAL’s Mac mini Blu-ray drive upgrade kit is not what it seems originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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