Major infrastucture supplier calls it: LTE over WiMAX
February 4, 2010
If you’re Clearwire or Sprint right now, the last thing you want to hear is one of the world’s major suppliers of wireless infrastructure badmouthing the very technology that underpins your next-gen network — so we imagine there’s some groaning in the hallways and boardrooms of the world’s WiMAX carriers today. Why? Alcatel-Lucent’s COO of its wireless business, Patrick Plas, has pulled no punches in a statement this week that the firm is “not putting a lot of effort into [WiMAX] any longer” after noticing that there’s “a clear direction taken by the industry towards LTE.” Of course, it doesn’t take an analyst to notice that Europe, Asia, and virtually every carrier in the Americas have all taken on a decidedly pro-LTE slant in the past couple years, and these guys are just following the money — which in turn makes it harder (and more expensive) for the handful of WiMAX proponents with deployed networks to build out and stay technologically current. In the race to actual 4G commercialization, LTE’s still got a ton of catching-up to do — but once it does, it’s looking poised to blow past WiMAX pretty quickly here. In the meantime, we’ll be loving our Overdrives.
Major infrastucture supplier calls it: LTE over WiMAX originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Comcast smears the XFINITY brand across all its services
February 3, 2010
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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Comcast smears the XFINITY brand across all its services
February 3, 2010
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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Apple gets a patent on smart screen bezels
February 3, 2010
Apple might have finally released the iPad, but the rumor mill is already on to prognosticating about the next rev — and as usual, Apple’s patents and patent applications are everyone’s favorite place to start. (And for good reason, really — that very first design patent we inititally noticed way back in 2004 is exactly what the iPad looks like, down to the bezel and Dock connector.) The latest tidbit is a patent granted earlier this week on an intelligent touch-sensitive bezel, which would essentially extend the touchpanel beyoned the edges of the screen to create an entire border of context-specific soft buttons — the iPod app might have playback controls at the bottom, while Safari could put the navigation bar down there and Pages could do formatting stuff at the top. It’s sort of interesting — Palm similarly extends the touch area beyond the screen on the Pre and the Pixi, but not quite like this — but we can’t see how touching the bezel next to an on-screen label is much better than just pressing the screen. Of course, there’s no guaranteeing Apple’s actually going to use any of this in any future products whatsoever, but we’re sure that won’t stop some analyst from waving their magic analyst wand and saying their “supply checks” have indicated a major ODM is already producing these. It’s nice that the world is so predictable sometimes, isn’t it?
Apple gets a patent on smart screen bezels originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Symbian’s revealing something tomorrow, but what? (update: open source!)
February 3, 2010
Oh, Symbian, you tease! For an organization as committed to openness and sharing its roadmap (and its code) as the Symbian Foundation, it’s pretty unusual that they’d be counting down to a big unveiling of anything — but sure enough, they’ve been tweeting decreasing numbers with the hashtag “#symbiancountdown” starting back on January 26 with 108. Today we’re down to 12 (it’s hard to say what sort of jacked-up counting system they’re using here) with a note of “what will tomorrow bring?” so it looks like we can expect this all to go down in just a few short hours. One thought is that they could announce that Symbian^3 has gone Functionally Complete, a key milestone in getting it pushed to devices — but that’s a shot in the dark. Don’t disappoint, guys.
Update: Looks like it may be the full source for Symbian^2, the Foundation’s first open release.
Symbian’s revealing something tomorrow, but what? (update: open source!) originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Joojoo tablet now in production, will support full Flash at launch
February 3, 2010
Chandra still wouldn’t budge on revealing what’s powering the device, but he was more than happy to confirm that the tablet will support full Flash at launch, and HD Flash content once Flash 10.1 is officially released — YouTube HD will play right now using a separate player plugin that takes advantage of GPU acceleration. “We have a bigger ‘app store’ than Apple because we have the full Internet,” he told us. Nevertheless, Fusion plans to launch a “web store” that will allow people to find web applications on the Joojoo. Speaking of Apple, Chandra was quite blunt about the iPad: “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” No really — he told us everything from Steve Jobs calling the iPad a “magical product” to the couch being on stage during the keynote to the $499 price point was a nod to the Joojoo, since “juju” is an African word for “magical” and the Joojoo was positioned as a couch computer when it launched in November. Uh, sure. Trash talking aside, we’re very excited to see what this thing can do — a 16:9 720p tablet that can play Hulu sounds pretty interesting to us. Check the full press release after the break.
Continue reading Joojoo tablet now in production, will support full Flash at launch
Joojoo tablet now in production, will support full Flash at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Horizon debuts H-Cell 2.0 hydrogen fuel cell system for R/C cars
February 3, 2010
Continue reading Horizon debuts H-Cell 2.0 hydrogen fuel cell system for R/C cars
Horizon debuts H-Cell 2.0 hydrogen fuel cell system for R/C cars originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Fujifilm intros 3D Print System, which probably requires wicked expensive ink
February 3, 2010
What do you do if you concoct one of the world’s first 3D point-and-shoot cameras? Why, you concoct a 3D printer (definitely not pictured) to work with it, of course! Fujifilm has just kicked out its new 3D Print System, which enables 3D photographs to be created “on the spot” using dye-sublimation technology to print directly on to the base of a lenticular sheet. Unfortunately, prints will only be available in four sizes ranging from 4- x 6-inches to 6- x 9-inches, but we’re hoping that some sort of magical firmware update will enable poster-sized prints for those really looking to drive their retinas batty. Mum’s the word on a price, but it should hit UK shelves by April for an undisclosed rate.
Fujifilm intros 3D Print System, which probably requires wicked expensive ink originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Cornell’s switchable adhesive device keeps candy from falling, could let you dance on the ceiling (video)
February 3, 2010
Climbing walls is one of those odd feats that scientific establishments seem compelled to master — despite there being few practical applications beyond the ultimate in Marvel-themed Halloween attire. The latest to tackle the challenge are Paul Steen and Michael Vogel from Cornell University, who have stolen the sticky-feet technique of a Floridian beetle that apparently failed to file a patent. The technique relies on the surface tension of water and capillary action of fluids forced through thousands of microscopic holes. When moisture is pushed through the holes it creates a suction on a smooth surface, enough at this point for the team’s prototype to hold a weight of 30 grams. When the water is retracted the suction disappears. If all goes well, future implementations of a similar size could hold 15 pounds, meaning with enough of them you could climb a wall — without leaving a sticky mess behind.
[Image and video courtesy of David A. Anderson]
Cornell’s switchable adhesive device keeps candy from falling, could let you dance on the ceiling (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Penn State busts out 100mm graphene wafers, halcyonic dream inches closer to reality
February 3, 2010
Yes, we’ve been marching on this road to graphene-based superconductive electronics for a long, long time. But in the space of one week, we’ve now seen two significant advancements pop up that rekindle our hope for an ultrafast tomorrow. Hot on the heels of IBM’s recent bandgap achievement comes Penn State University with a 100mm wafer of pure graphene gorgeousness. Built using silicon sublimation — a process of essentially evaporating the silicon away from the carbon layer — these are the biggest graphene wafers yet, and field effect transistors are being built atop them now to start performance testing early this year. Naturally, nobody’s sitting on this laurel just yet, with further plans afoot to expand beyond 200mm wafers in order to integrate fully into the semiconductor industry, whose current standard wafer size is around 300mm in diameter. On we go then.
Penn State busts out 100mm graphene wafers, halcyonic dream inches closer to reality originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Southwest nails down in-flight WiFi partnership, whole fleet to be lit by 2012
February 2, 2010
It’s about time, ain’t it? Southwest — which is easily one of the most enjoyable airlines to fly on here in the States — has finally cemented its in-flight WiFi plans after more than two full years of hemming, hawing and testing. A fresh blog posting on the airline’s website clues us in on exactly how difficult to road to this day has been, but a finalized partnership with Row 44 will allow wireless equipment to be installed into 15 aircraft per month starting in Q2 of this year. In time, the company will ramp that up to 25 per month, which should mean that its entire fleet of 540 planes will be outfitted for mile-high web access by “early 2012.” We’re still being kept in the dark when it comes to pricing, but Southwest assures us that it’s still “testing a variety of price points on the four aircraft that currently have WiFi” and that a decision will be made in a few more months.
Update: Tipster MJK just hit us up with this tidbit, and if Southwest keeps this kind of pricing in tact, it could very well start a price war with the legacy carriers who charge upwards of $13 per flight for access.“I took a trip from Los Angeles to Albuqueruqe recently and they charged $4 for the entire trip. It’s just around two hours but it was indeed fast WiFi.”
Southwest nails down in-flight WiFi partnership, whole fleet to be lit by 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft says it’s looking into laptop battery issues with Windows 7
February 2, 2010
We’ve already seen some evidence that suggests Windows 7 puts a particularly hard drain on at least some laptop and netbook batteries, and it looks like Microsoft has now heard enough complaints itself to open an investigation into the matter. Details are otherwise a bit light, but Microsoft is apparently looking into the issue in collaboration with its hardware partners, and says that the problem is likely related to the computers’ BIOS, which Windows 7 relies on to determine if the battery needs to be replaced. Needless to say, there isn’t much in the way of solutions in the meantime, and Microsoft isn’t offering any indication as to when one might be forthcoming.
Microsoft says it’s looking into laptop battery issues with Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony Ericsson Aspen: first with Windows Mobile 6.5.3
February 2, 2010
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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Klipsch Image X10i iPhone-friendly earbud impressions
February 1, 2010
We let you in on one of Klipsch’s little secrets when we revealed the Image X10i to the world back in December, and now that the company’s highest-end iPhone-friendly earbuds will be shipping en masse within a month, we figured we’d grab a set and let you know if they were indeed worth their weight in gold (or just $349.99, really). The X10 has sat atop the company’s most recent lineup of earbuds for awhile now, and with the raging success of the S4i came a stellar idea: add the same iPod / iPhone remote to the flagship set of ‘buds. The X10i is just that — a set of X10 earbuds with the iPhone remote that we highlighted in our S4i review. Needless to say, the X10i isn’t aimed at the budget-minded listener, but we were most curious to see if these really were worth the $250 leap from the aforementioned S4i. Read on to peek our conclusion.
Gallery: Klipsch Image X10i hands-on
Continue reading Klipsch Image X10i iPhone-friendly earbud impressions
Klipsch Image X10i iPhone-friendly earbud impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CE-Oh no he didn’t? Part LXVII: Steve Jobs lashes out at Google, calls Adobe ‘lazy’
January 31, 2010
According to a report in Wired (and a source whom the publication says “could not be named”), Steve Jobs spoke to an audience of Apple employees at a town hall in Cupertino and… pulled zero punches. If you believe what you read, Jobs tackled a handful of major issues that have been buzzing the company lately, namely its run-ins with Google on a number of topics, and the lack of Flash support in its mobile devices (most notably in the upcoming iPad). On Google, Jobs had this to say: “We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.” According to the attendee, another topic was brought up but Steve wouldn’t let the Google issue go, stating his thoughts on the company’s famous ‘Don’t be evil’ line. In Steve’s words? “It’s bullshit.”
Furthermore Jobs had a handful of choice words for Adobe, calling the company “lazy” and claiming that “Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5.” Of course, these amazing nuggets of wisdom come from a source which Engadget cannot verify, so it’s possible there are misquotes or items taken out of context, though from the sounds of things, this kind of talk falls right in line with what we’d expect from the man who said Microsoft “had no taste” and makes “really third-rate products.” We eagerly await Eric Schmidt’s response.
CE-Oh no he didn’t? Part LXVII: Steve Jobs lashes out at Google, calls Adobe ‘lazy’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Dual Electronics’ iPod touch GPS cradle now shipping in late February
January 30, 2010
Dual Electronics’ iPod touch GPS cradle now shipping in late February originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow
January 30, 2010
Virgin Mobile Canada lights up HSPA+ network, iPhone 3GS, Bold 9700 in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch
January 30, 2010
At this particular point, 50-something days away from the earliest iPad deliveries, we doubt too many people are up in arms about the iPad’s ability to act as a jumbo iPhone. On the other hand, if we told you you can take pretty much the entire iPad experience and distill it down to your iPhone OS device, well you’d probably care a lot more, wouldn’t you? To get that extra 3D flavor to your UI, including the fetching iBooks shelf and other iPad-specific touches, you’ll need a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch, access to the Cydia app store, and the manpower to click past the break for the full instructional video. Come on, you know you want to.
[Thanks, Taimur]
Continue reading iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch
iPad UI gets ported to the iPhone and iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nexus One for AT&T’s 3G bands likely in the works
January 29, 2010
By all appearances, Google’s trying to break Android free of the surly bonds of the manufacturers and carriers that support it, opening its own online store and selling unlocked Nexus Ones to anyone willing to pony up the $529. Problem is, the Nexus One as we know it today is only available in a configuration that supports North American 3G on AWS spectrum, meaning you’ve got to go with the States’ fourth-largest carrier if you want to blaze — you’ve got no other option. That’s not very “open,” is it, Google?
That brings us to an FCC finding today. Take a look at the two labels above; the one on the right comes from the current Nexus One. The label on the left, meanwhile, is physically identical and comes from a new filing for a device with FCC ID NM899110. The old Nexus One has ID NM899100, so this new device is just a single digit off — likely a variant of the existing model. If you look into the RF reports a bit, you’ll immediately notice that the new handset supports 3G on WCDMA Bands I, II, and V, meaning that it’ll work on AT&T (and Rogers, Bell, and Telus for the Canadians in the room) along with most of Europe. Same label style, nearly identical model ID, different bands — we think we know what’s going on here. Google, your move.
[Thanks, wonderbread]
Nexus One for AT&T’s 3G bands likely in the works originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | FCC (old Nexus One), FCC (new Nexus One?) | Email this | Comments
Nexus One experiencing nationwide data outage? (update: it’s back!)
January 29, 2010
Well, Happy Friday to you, too! We’ve been inundated with tips from perturbed Nexus One users across the country (and even in Puerto Rico) suggesting that their T-Mobile data coverage is completely out of commission. As you can see above, our own Josh Topolsky is seeing the error in Brooklyn, NY. Some users have reported that their SIM card pulls down data when swapped out of the Nexus One and into another handset, and both T-Mobile and HTC tech support centers have purportedly been slammed. At the moment, no one really seems to know what the issue is, but we have seen some reports from owners that their data is coming down just fine. So, what say you? Let us know what’s going on with your Nexus One in the poll below.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: As of 12:54PM ET, it seems that data is back in action for Nexus One users. You should probably try rebooting your phone if it’s not.
Nexus One experiencing nationwide data outage? (update: it’s back!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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