Most of us think of Commodore's pre-C64 computing history in terms of the still-legendary PET-2001, but an eBay auction run by Lawrence Bezuska shows just how far back the tradition really goes. He's selling a KIM-1, the stripped-down hobbyist computer from Chuck Peddle that was the foundation for what the PET became. It's so old that it was originally made by MOS Technologies in 1976 -- Commodore bought the company and kept making the KIM-1 until 1981. Inside, you're still looking at a 6502 chip, although you get just 1.12Kb of RAM and lose more than a few things that even DIY enthusiasts take for granted today, such as a power supply. There's no way you'll play Doom on it, then, but the winning bidder does get the luxury of a keypad just inches away from bare circuitry. If you're quick enough to make the May 17th auction deadline and miss the days of very, very low-level programming, be sure to check the source link.

Rare Commodore KIM-1 hits eBay, shows you the PET's barebones roots originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Eton, the name behind solar-powered sound systems and emergency radios, is updating its disaster-preparedness portfolio with the new FRX series of self-powered radios. The FRX 1, FRX 2 and FRX 3 use hand-turbine energy to keep the internal lithium ion battery juiced, and all include a glow-in-the-dark indicator, LED flashlight and DC input. While the FRX 1 offers only the basic components, the FRX 2 and 3 have solar panels for recharging, along with a headphone jack and a USB port for powering other gadgets. The FRX 3 boasts a digital alarm and radio -- as opposed to the analog radio on the FRX 2 -- and a display for receiving NOAA weather alerts. Eton priced the radios at $25, $40 and $60, respectively, and it's currently selling the three options with American Red Cross co-branding at outlets such as Amazon, Best Buy and REI. Realizing your crank-powered Raptor is on its last legs? Check out the PR past the break.

Continue reading Eton anticipates next natural disaster with self-powered FRX radios

Eton anticipates next natural disaster with self-powered FRX radios originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 15:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Speakers these days! They are everywhere, in constantly evolving iterations, smaller and more versatile than ever before. Singaporean manufacturer X-mini has a pretty good foothold in this game with a consistent brand message of "Sound Beyond Size." That indicates the portability, mass, and reproductive capacity of its products in a pretty nebulous fashion, so we decided to grab its latest offering, the Bluetooth-toting KAI, and place it in our real lives for a few months. It's available now for $99, which will take it off the table for many casual listeners, but those who crave what's next in distributed audio might find KAI to be quite the ear-opener. We got pretty close with it (but not weird close), and we have a couple of things to say about that whole size / sound relationship they're so keen on.

Continue reading X-mini KAI capsule Bluetooth speaker review

X-mini KAI capsule Bluetooth speaker review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've known for quite some time that Motorola intended to push Ice Cream Sandwich to the Droid 4, but until now the waiting game continued, with no end in sight. It now appears that the smartphone maker is making serious progress on its own Motoblur-infused flavor of ICS, with a stock version of the upgrade making the rounds since last night. According to early adopters, the build seems to enable complete functionality, but upgrading early will leave your device locked to 4.0.4, with no option for future updates. So, for now, it makes sense to hang tight, but it'd be reasonable to assume that Moto-sanctioned ICS is indeed on its way to the Droid 4. Impatient owners will find everything they need at the source link after the break.

Motorola Droid 4 gets leaked ICS build, official Android 4.0.4 may soon follow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This one goes out to all the Bonds in the world. RunCore, a Chinese company specializing in the production of solid state drives, has cooked up a SATA II solution that should satisfy even the most guarded of privacy fanatics. Living up to its grandiose InVincible moniker, this aptly-named SSD's built to endure extreme temperatures ranging from -45 to 95 degrees Celsius (or -49 to 203 degrees Fahrenheit), read / write data at speeds up to 240Mbps / 140Mbps and protect your 1s and 0s from prying, less-than-reputable eyes. How so? Well, the drive's actual pièce de espionnite aiguë (that's fancy for paranoiac fail safe) incorporates a dual-button scheme for clearing away data. Users, much like Neo in ye 'ole Matrix, will have two colored choices to make: select the green button for "intelligent elimination" (aka overwriting of data) or opt for the "less subtle method" offered by the red button which applies a current to the NAND flash memory for actual physical destruction of your data. So, whether you're a high-ranking government official, a spy unlike us or just someone who can't help but look over his / her shoulder, rest assured your secrets can now be safely disposed of. Jump past the break to check out the outfit's informational video and its woefully out of sync audio track.

Continue reading RunCore InVincible SSD wipes data away with the click of a button

RunCore InVincible SSD wipes data away with the click of a button originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

HTC may be over the idea of including premium earbuds with its smartphones, but Motorola is stepping up to give it the ol' college try with its Motosmart Mix XT550. The phone will sell in China for ¥1,699 and is targeted at "people who really care about music." Along with the bundled set of headphones, you'll also discover a dedicated button to open the Sina Micro Music application. Beyond these selling points, however, the handset is a bit behind the curve. The XT550 features Android 2.3.6, a Qualcomm MSM7255A SoC with an 800MHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 3-megapixel camera and a 4-inch, HVGA display. On a positive note, the 1,735mAh battery is said to provide up to 30 hours of music playback. All things considered, however, we're inclined to agree: you'd have to "really care about music" to spring for this one. Undeterred? You'll find the full PR after the break.

Continue reading Motorola Motosmart Mix XT550 masks its middling specs with a set of nice headphones

Motorola Motosmart Mix XT550 masks its middling specs with a set of nice headphones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Now you can Skype on Xfinity, and beyond. Comcast's re-branded cable arm is touting a new trick beginning today, with customers in Boston and Seattle among the first to have access to the new Skype on Xfinity videoconferencing service (Atlanta, Augusta, Ga., Chicago, Detroit, Harrisburg, Pa., Indianapolis, Miami and Pittsburgh will be online by the end of the week). Interested parties can add a $9.95 monthly fee to their Triple Play service to take advantage, enabling "free" (read: $10-per-month) instant messaging and video chatting services. That monthly fee will presumably cover the requisite all-in-one kit, which includes an adaptor, a "high-quality" camera and a spiffy new Skype-enabled remote control with an IM-friendly keyboard on the rear. Naturally, your bud on the other end doesn't need any special equipment, unless of course they plan to chat through their HDMI-capable Comcast box as well. Eligible customers can hit up the source link past the break to sign up, and breeze through the attached PR for a bit more detail.

Continue reading Comcast switches on Skype on Xfinity in Boston and Seattle today, eight more metros this week

Comcast switches on Skype on Xfinity in Boston and Seattle today, eight more metros this week originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bandwagons, trains and Tranes. Can't say that these three have a heck of a lot in common in most regards, but one thing's for sure: trying to stop this trio would be a Herculean task. And so it goes with laptops -- once upon a time, it was good enough to have something that resembled a portable tower, but these days, the ability to even see the chassis at all feels like a negative. I exaggerate, of course, but the proverbial race in the laptop world is hardly about price; it's about thinness. Intel's unstoppable quest to plaster the Ultrabook term as far and wide as possible has led to a change in the way consumers are viewing portable machines, and Apple's devilishly thin MacBook Air certainly played a role, too. What we're left with is a very curious priority list, and I'm wondering if too many OEMs have stopped to wonder if the "obvious" is indeed the "right."

I'll be the first to confess that I love the look of thin. Samsung's Series 9 and Acer's Aspire S5 might just be two of the sexiest machines to ever be built, and Dell's original Adamo was primarily of interest due to one thing: its jaw-droppingly thin frame. But there's some saying about putting form before function that seems to apply here, particularly when keying in on battery life. I've no doubt that the marketing and research teams for PC makers far and wide understand the realities of the market place, and perhaps the average consumer really doesn't need more than four to six hours of life on a single charge. Five years ago, squeezing that much life from machines under an inch thick would've required some sort of wizardry that exists only in a rarely visited corner of West Hollywood. But today, I'm a dreamer. And I'm dreaming of a laptop with "all day battery life" -- something that could be screamed from the rooftops, and honestly, something that could probably be accomplished tomorrow if our laptop options weren't on such a diet.

Continue reading Editorial: Thin laptops are the new mainstream, but what about battery life?

Editorial: Thin laptops are the new mainstream, but what about battery life? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Update: We just finished listening through the entire webcast (we're still waiting for the transcript) and found the quote that is going to make most customers shake their fists in anger:

"LTE is our anchor point for data share. So, as you come through an upgrade cycle and you upgrade in the future, you will have to go on to the data share plan. And moving away from, if you will, the unlimited world and moving everyone into a tiered structure data share plan."

Doesn't get much clearer than that, but we're still hoping Verizon will come back and say Shammo was speaking out of turn... fingers crossed.

Verizon CFO says grandfathered unlimited plans on the way out originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

'Tis the season for major Android app remakes, this time with Evernote going for a much appreciated adaptation to a more swipe-friendly universe. The 4.0 update of the note-taking app has a new home screen that lets you swipe out a hidden menu to get to your notes without having to always jump backwards -- one of our pet peeves. Much of the overall navigation now leans towards swipes over buttons, and the list views for notes and notebooks are a good deal simpler. Combined with new contextual action bars, the revamp puts the text, audio and photo recorder much more at home in the Android 4.0 era than earlier versions. It still requires just Android 1.6, so nearly anyone can take a look by visiting the Google Play link below.

Continue reading Evernote 4.0 for Android sweeps in new home screen, list UI (video)

Evernote 4.0 for Android sweeps in new home screen, list UI (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Americans and Brits might chuckle at their respective understandings of words like chips, pants and biscuits -- a search engine, however, can't be quite so discerning. As it turns out, Google actually thinks it can, and has been working on its Knowledge Graph project to prove it. Beginning today, English searches from Google.com might start seeing a new box appearing alongside (unless you happened to see it via the live-trial). If there is more than one potential meaning to your search term, Google will ask you to specify (trousers, not underwear, for example). Likewise, when it's more confident it knows what you mean, you'll get a summary box instead. (A celebrities place of birth, favorite cheese etc..)

Google's Shashidhar Thakur, tech lead for search, told us "We think of this as our pragmatic approach to semantic search." And by pragmatic, he means that for the last two years, Google has been working to map the "Universe of things," not just webpages. Over 500 million things, in fact, creating a total of 3.5 billion attributes and connections so far. The hope is, that as this technology evolves, you'll be able to ask more complex questions, like "Which US airports have a Cinnabon stall." Or, you know, other such deep and meaningful queries. If you see some info, and happen to know better, there's a feedback system, so you can let Google know, hopefully making Knowledge Graph continually evolve in accuracy. While it's only rolling out for English searches, it's not just desktop, with mobile and tablet search getting the goods too. There are plans to spread this out to other languages, but no specific dates for this just now.

Continue reading Google launches Knowledge Graph today, wants to understand real things (video)

Google launches Knowledge Graph today, wants to understand real things (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Love them or hate them, those ubiquitous Android skins aren't going anywhere any time soon. Now the latest one to make an entrance to the overlay game is LG's UI 3.0, which the Korean outfits says will make the overall experience of its handsets easier, speedier and "more convenient." The new UI brings features such as a novel drag anywhere-style lock screen, an Icon Customizer for setting your own photos as icons / shortcuts, a revamped Pattern Lock that lets you preset apps for quicker launch and a Voice Shutter trait for taking snaps via voice commands -- à la Sammy S Voice. UI 3.0 is set to make its debut next week with the launch of LG's Optimus LTE II in Korea, while the Optimus 4X HD will also come sporting the fresh skin once it launches in June.

Gallery: LG UI 3.0

Continue reading LG shows off UI 3.0 for Ice Cream Sandwich devices, says it's 'unobtrusive and simple'

LG shows off UI 3.0 for Ice Cream Sandwich devices, says it's 'unobtrusive and simple' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 12:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If 3D has a future in our pockets, then it must be one that requires no spectacles. Not only are the goggles an issue, other key factors like resolution and viewing angles all need to be bettered before it stands a chance of broad adoption. NLT technology knows this, and has prototyped a 3.1-inch 3D LCD display that not only matches 2D resolution (as we've seen before,) but also offers up to six viewing angles. The display is based on existing horizontal double-density pixel technology with "HxDP" (horizontally x times-density pixels,) a new technology for creating multiple viewpoints, thrown into the mix. Standard HDDP gives a 3D image two viewpoints, HxDP allows more depending on density of sub-pixels. It also allows for both 2D and 3D images to be on-screen at the same time, meaning you can decide which version of Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked you prefer side-by-side.

Prototype 3D display maintains resolution, bumps viewing angles, spans dimensions originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

That's right, the next episode of the Engadget Show is rapidly approaching, and if you love gaming as much as we do, you're in for a treat. For May's episode, we'll be speaking with the directors of the award winning documentary, Indie Game: The Movie.

We've also paid a visit to the Smithsonian to check out the museum's Art of the Video Game exhibit and took a look the insanely awesome Fifth Avenue Frogger arcade machine hack. We've also got a look at the newly reborn Chinatown Fair arcade in Manhattan and the month's latest and greatest gadgets -- not to mention an in-studio performance by indie singer-songwriter Alex Winston.

Best of all, we still have a few tickets left. If you're in New York City, you can be a part of the live show -- just fire off an email to engadgetshow [at] engadget.com. And if you can't make it in person, fear not, we'll be streaming live at 6PM on Friday. Just bookmark this here URL.

Here are the deets:
o. The event is all ages.
o. We'll open doors and begin seating at 5:15pm on May 18th, and the taping begins at 6:00PM. We'll be closing the doors at 5:50PM.
o. A limited number of tickets are available, first come first serve. We will also have a limited stand-by list available.
o. Please bring a photo ID with you to the taping.
o. The show length is around an hour.

If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

The Engadget Show returns Friday, May 18th -- get tickets to the taping! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When we reviewed the 15-inch Samsung Series 9, we found very little to complain about, save for the narrow viewing angles and the fair-weather trackpad. Turns out, Samsung at least agrees with the first part. In a show of candor, Raymond Wah, VP of PC product strategy, told a group of reporters, "We can make improvements in terms of the viewing angle." That's not surprising, given that Samsung's homegrown 15-inch display doesn't currently make use of the same IPS-like PLS technology as the panel used in the 13-inch Series 9. It would seem, then, that it's occurred to Samsung to develop one, though company reps declined to say when we might see a 15-inch Series 9 with such a panel in tow.

For now, anyway, the outfit is giving itself some credit for the laptop's relatively dense 1600 x 900 pixel count (and rightfully so!). Interestingly, Wah's comments come at a time when MacBook Pro rumors are starting to flow fast and furious, and a Retina display is looking like a fair possibility. As to whether Samsung will ever produce a 4K laptop display of its own, Wah declined to comment, but he did note that right now there isn't enough content optimized for that higher resolution, and that such screens would be costlier to produce. Until all that changes, we have to admit we're pretty pleased with the Series 9's resolution too -- after all, anything's better than plain old HD.

Samsung exec admits the 15-inch Series 9 could benefit from better viewing angles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 11:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Like dominoes, Sprint's consumer-friendly policies continue to fall one at a time. Citing "high costs," the Now Network will begin discontinuing its practice of allowing customers to upgrade their phone 10-14 days prior to the official date of eligibility. According to the memo leaked by TechnoBuffalo, the program will cease to exist as of June 1st. It sounds like this policy change is an unfortunate consequence of the company's large investments in iPhones and its still-dormant LTE network. It may not be enough to convince many Sprint customers to jump ship, but this isn't the first cost-cutting measure put forth by Dan Hesse's team -- and we have a hard time believing it will be the last. We've reached out to Sprint for official comment and will update you as soon as we have word.

Sprint reportedly cancelling its early upgrade program June 1st originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 11:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wireless charging may be all the rage these days, but actually beaming electricity -- as sketched above by the man Tesla himself -- still has some snags. North Carolina State U researchers have found a way to possibly vanquish the biggest problem: the difficulty of exactly matching resonant frequencies to amplify current. If external factors like temperature change the tuning of a transmitter even slightly then power drops will occur, but circuitry developed by the NC State scientists would allow receivers to detect these changes and automatically re-tune themselves to match. This could make for more potent car and device charging in the future and, if they stretch the distances a bit, maybe we'll finally get the wire-free utopia Nikola dreamed up 120 years ago.

Scientists tweak wireless power transfer, Tesla nods happily in his grave originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallic storage outfit LaCie is nonchalantly unveiling its 2big double-bay NAS that's purportedly capable of pumping data around your network at 100MB/s. Designed for small businesses, it'll remind any passers by of HAL or GLaDOS, depending on their age. Sporting a 2GHz processor and the company's NAS OS2, it'll also happily interact with Windows 7 Backup or Time Machine and you can access your files on the go with the company's iOS app. It's available from today, prices starting from $299 (£187 in the UK) with a three year warranty. If you'd like to know more, then we've got a short film and some PR after the jump.

Continue reading LaCie's new 100MB/s NAS is 2big, resists that second scone (video)

LaCie's new 100MB/s NAS is 2big, resists that second scone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 10:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Do you loathe the sound of silence? Check out the latest update to Flipboard, bro. The most recent update to the social app now includes an audio selection that'll pump out NPR podcasts and SoundCloud tracks, amongst a litany of others, at will. The update will also benefit the visually impaired, as it now includes VoiceOver features to enable it to read your social media offerings out loud. Hopefully those features will be included as standard when it makes a more, ahem, legitimate arrival on Android.

Continue reading Flipboard brings the noise in NPR-ified app update, Britta will be pleased

Flipboard brings the noise in NPR-ified app update, Britta will be pleased originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The last time we saw T-rays, they were busy scanning bodies for tumors and security threats. Six researchers from the Tokyo Institute of Technology are now aiming the terahertz-level frequencies at a less organic target: fast wireless. Running at 542GHz, a rate that makes 60GHz ultra wideband look pokey, the scientists are sending data through the ether at about 3Gbps. The speed isn't as fast as the 7Gbps peak of WiGig, and the bandwidth runs dry at just 33 feet away, but it comes out of a resonant tunneling diode measuring 0.04 square inches -- definitely small enough to fit into a smartphone. The speed could magnify using higher frequencies and power levels, too, with 100Gbps being the dream. Knowing that it can take years for academic papers to translate to real products, we're not holding our breath for T-ray routers anytime soon. Still, the technology could make wideband a realistic option for handhelds and put the mere 1.3Gbps of 802.11ac WiFi to shame.

[Thanks, Andrew. Image credit: Deborah Miller and Warren Scott, Connexions]

T-rays produce 3Gbps short-range wireless, make WiFi pout in the corner originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 10:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

NVIDIA's announced a pair of Tesla GPUs that'll give some extra pep to your supercomputing tasks. The K10 and K20 units harness the power of Kepler to add more muscle to the company's scientific and technical computing arm that supplies gear to the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Tokyo's Tsubame 2.0. Internal tests reveal that the hardware is around three times faster than the company's Fermi GPUs -- with the latter card expected to arrive at the end of the year. The company didn't announce pricing, since its aiming them squarely at the big academic institutions, defense contractors and oil explorers -- but if your surname is Buffet or Abramovitch, then they might sell you one at trade.

Continue reading NVIDIA outs a pair of Tesla GPUs to electrify your supercomputer

NVIDIA outs a pair of Tesla GPUs to electrify your supercomputer originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 09:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nick Yulman has been doing the whole mechanical music thing for sometime. In fact, the first time he came to our attention was at Maker Faire a couple of years back, when he had a cadre of small robotic instruments set up on a table in a quiet corner near the food stands. For ITP's Spring Show, Nick decided to share the love and brought along his Bricolo mechanical music system. Comprised of a number of different modules, Bricolo is meant to simplify the act of incorporating robotics and physical objects into the creation of "electronic" music. The two main pieces are a drum arm, which can be mounted on a mic stand and uses and uses a simple actuator to swing a drum stick, and a platform with a small solenoid that can produce either percussive rhythms or melodic tones. All of the pieces can be easily controlled by any MIDI instrument or sequencer.

The small platform that can produce actual musical tones converts notes from any MIDI source into a frequency that the solenoid can vibrate at, creating sound by striking a surface extremely quickly. In the video below you can see as an old hard cover book is turned into a bass synth. Interestingly, by opening and closing the book, varying the weight placed on the platform, you're able to create a filter effect. For the moment the tiny musical motors are largely a proof of concept -- exposed components attached to black or clear acrylic, but the hope is to eventually sell them to curious creators. Our composing skills might not be quite up to Mr. Yulman's lofty standards and we'll never write a bass line as good as I Want You Back. But, we are big fans of noise, and you can make plenty of it with Bricolo. Check out the video after the break to see it in action.

Gallery: Bricolo hands-on

Continue reading Bricolo mechanical music system hand-on (video)

Bricolo mechanical music system hand-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Many of you are already familiar with the Xiaomi Phone and its reverence in the MIUI community, but now the Chinese manufacturer has introduced a less expensive counterpart to the original, which is aptly known as the Youth Edition. Priced at 1,499 yuan ($237), this smartphone will sell for a full 500 yuan less than its elder and will retain many of its components, which include a 4-inch, 854 x 480 display, an 8-megapixel camera, 4GB of ROM and a 1,930mAh battery. In fact, the only significant changes are the dual-core 1.2GHz CPU (which is down from 1.5GHz), and 768MB of RAM instead of the original 1GB. Xiaomi will produce 150,000 Youth Edition handsets, which seems like a healthy number, but if you want to stake your claim to one, you'd best join in the pre-registration process, which runs now through May 18th.

Xiaomi Phone gets a Youth Edition, a less powerful, cheaper alternative for students originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In its ongoing battle against internet bottlenecks -- or let's face it -- techie bragging rights, Netgear has launched two more devices with that sweet, sweet 802.11ac data flow. Joining its recently announced R6300 router, is the R6200 model, which supports a combined WiFi speed of 1200 Mbps, has a USB port for networking devices, and of course also rides the a, b, g and n waves too -- if you don't have any 802.11ac kit just yet. Well, as it happens, Netgear thought of that, and has also announced the A6200 dual band USB WiFi adapter to, literally, bring your existing kit up to speed. If you want in on the action, you'll need to spend $179.99 and $69.99 respectively when they launch in Q3 this year. Full specs in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Netgear adds R6200 router and A6200 USB adapter to its 802.11ac family

Netgear adds R6200 router and A6200 USB adapter to its 802.11ac family originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A Team of Russian researchers are building a conceptual mind-transfer android, and we're definitely not talking about Ice Cream Sandwich. However bizarre, their goal is to help mankind achieve immortality using a combination of humanoid robots and interstellar space travel to get away from a dangerous and overcrowded planet -- but most of the needed technology seems so far off that we could probably power cycle the world's slowest Linux computer a million times before we see any of it. One prototype includes the torso of an android that will one day house a a computer rig that would be theoretically capable of acting as a personal proxy -- essentially, a place to upload "human souls." This absolutely insane über-ambitious project is the stuff of science fiction, but the big shots over in the birthplace of Tetris say it'll all be possible by 2045. Need more convincing? Check out the two videos after the break.

Continue reading Russian researchers build partial android for bizarre mind-transfer project (video)

Russian researchers build partial android for bizarre mind-transfer project (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just when you thought you could go on rooting and switching ROMs with impunity, it turns out you can't -- at least, not if you want to continue enjoying your Google Music account. Watchful eyes at XDA Developers have discovered a snag in Google's authorization system, which means that not only is there an upper limit of ten devices that can be authorized simultaneously, but there's also a limit of four de-authorizations per year. Since every time you flash your phone or tablet counts as a new authorization, and since your other devices probably hog a few tickets already, rooters will quickly hit the ten-device limit, at which point they're going to have to think long and hard about their de-auth strategy. Is that a ration of one flash per quarter? But then what happens if you buy a new device in a few months' time? Oh, this is too much.

[Thanks, Aman]

PSA: Google Music allows four device de-authorizations per year, rooters beware originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The idea of a smaller iPad has been rattling around the tech rumor mill for many a month now, but the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen? That's sacred surely? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, apparently not. It's reporting that those ever-famous "people familiar with the situation" have told it that Apple has ordered screens that are larger that the ones used in the flagship phone so far. There's no specifics on size, with the sources only going as far to say they are "at least" four inches. Apple, however, has declined to comment -- no surprises there -- but perhaps now is the time to start the office pool. Just hope you don't land on the "4-inch iPad" square.

WSJ: Apple moving towards larger iPhone screens originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Desire C has barely revealed itself as HTC's latest pocket-friendly Android phone, but another device following the same naming convention might also be on the cards. According to BriefMobile, a lower-priced One S variant, currently under the Ville C moniker, will shed the dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 and use a (presumably cheaper) dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 (MSM8260). That's the same processor found in last year's Sensation, although we're skeptical of that clock speed. Otherwise, the leaked specs match the One S on the important stuff, including a 4.3-inch AMOLED display (with the same qHD resolution), an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera alongside HTC's ImageSense chip and 16GB of storage. Yep, like the One S, there's no option to expand storage, but if the price is right (and it does exist), we might be more willing to forgive that particular shortcoming.

Is the HTC Ville C a cheaper One S? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 07:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After refreshing the uploading tool (and throwing in some better editing functions), Flickr's decided to work on its looks. Its latest design update will now show a high-resolution version directly from a picture's main page. The size will also adjust itself to the resolution and size of your screen -- that's the fluid part of it -- avoid any nasty upscaling business. Hit up your own Flickr gallery to see the new design in action and expect more changes in the near future -- the developers are promising more to come.

Flickr launches prettified 'liquid' layout, brings high-resolution eye candy to the forefront originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If ever there were a prime candidate for Pimp my Mouse, ROCCAT's Savu would be it. The R.A.D. peripheral (no, really, that's the acronym) incorporates a category-first: an achievements application that rewards players for "a wide range of gaming feats, such as mouse movement, button clicks, scroll steps, etc." The tricked-out mouse also features an adjustable 4000 DPI optical sensor and Easy-Shift+ tech to let gamers program up to two dedicated functions per button. But, wait, there's more superfluousness to endure. In the event you feel the need to take this whole affair to 11, the company's also tossed in a customizable rear light bar that can be preset to one of 16.8 million colors. If you're a fan of over-the-top desktop accessories, you can snag this posterboy peripheral now for $60 at the virtual (or brick-and-mortar) retailer of your choice. Need more convincing? Then click on past the break for the hyperbolic presser from this extra-ordinary PC gaming kit.

Continue reading ROCCAT Savu hybrid mouse ready to assault PC gamers' senses for $60

ROCCAT Savu hybrid mouse ready to assault PC gamers' senses for $60 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gartner's latest dispatch reveals a wobbly global trade in mobile phones. Although our love of smartphones continued to blossom, with sales of that subcategory up nearly 45 percent, it wasn't enough to stave off a two percent overall decline compared to the same quarter in 2011. A total of 419.1 million handsets were sold, representing the first hiccup after nearly three years of growth and leading analysts to point fingers at a slow down in the Asia / Pacific region as well as a lack of product launches at the start of the year. Meanwhile, these figures also confirm what was already gleaned from IDC's shipments data: Samsung has knocked Nokia off its 14-year-old perch to become the padrone of the mobile phone market, with a cut of over 20 percent. It also replaced Apple as the number one smartphone vendor, claiming ownership of almost half of that segment. Damn, it feels good to be a pebble.

Gartner: mobile phone sales fell two percent last quarter, Samsung confirmed as numero uno originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 05:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hyundai Sonata and Veloster owners have had some level of remote access for a year now, but the latest version of the Blue Link app does even more. Along with remote start, door lock / unlock and control of the horn and lights, you can now run vehicle diagnostics, send POIs across from your phone for later in-dash navigation, and even locate and manage multiple Blue Link-equipped cars. Sound complicated? Not if you run a cab firm, or if you check out the twelve new instructional videos on Hyundai's YouTube channel below.

Continue reading Updated Hyundai app brings remote control to your Blue Link fleet

Updated Hyundai app brings remote control to your Blue Link fleet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sure you love your dog, but having him watch you sit on the sofa doesn't constitute playtime. Standing up and even running around outside together will surely get the job done, but why get up for exercise when you're perfectly comfortable on the couch? That's the idea behind Go-Go Dog Pals, coined "the funnest most fun way to exercise your dog." Unless you have a few acres to play with beyond the front door, you'll still need to to bring Rover out to the yard before unleashing the wireless gopher look-alike, but there finally appears to be a solution for controlling your dog just as you do your TV -- with a remote. The Go-Go has plenty of pep under the hood, thanks to its dual-motor, four-wheel drive and top speed of 35 kilometers (22 miles) per hour, and it could be yours for the not-so-modest sum of $300. There is a $25 discount on order, if you can pull the trigger by July 1st -- just enter "CHASE" at checkout. Paws-on video is just past the break.

Continue reading Go-Go Dog Pals lets you exercise Rover without tapping your precious calorie reserve

Go-Go Dog Pals lets you exercise Rover without tapping your precious calorie reserve originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 04:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Be still your beating heart, Samsung has announced that several customers who have already fallen for its incoming flagship's charms will get their pre-orders honored a day early. Unfortunately, it will be limited to those that ordered through its own brand store in Westfield Stratford City in London, but those lucky few will get their very own Galaxy S III at 6pm on May 29th -- half a day before the rest of the UK. We're planning to get our hands on a review model before then, so expect to see our fully-fleshed musings before the end of May.

Continue reading Galaxy S III will launch a day early -- for some UK pre-orders

Galaxy S III will launch a day early -- for some UK pre-orders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 04:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We know almost too well how smartphones perform in US market share; what we don't usually see is how happy customers are once the shrink wrap's off. Going by a newly-expanded American Customer Satisfaction Index, it's the iPhone that most scratches the itch at a score of 83. Despite having just been added, Apple was noticeably ahead of a three-way tie between HTC, LG and Nokia at 75. You might not want to look if you're a freshly-minted RIM executive: the BlackBerry made its freshman debut on the charts at the bottom, or 69. Big carriers have their own reasons to wince, too, knowing that smaller carriers like US Cellular and TracFone scored higher on the happiness meter than incumbents hiking service fees. While there's definitely some wiggle room for your own experience to have been better or worse, if you were an iPhone owner on a regional carrier in the past few months, you were statistically the most likely to be on Cloud Nine.

Continue reading iPhone waltzes into top spot of US phone satisfaction index, small carriers trump the giants

iPhone waltzes into top spot of US phone satisfaction index, small carriers trump the giants originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 04:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been nearly a month since we saw the Roku 2 and LT get hit with some performance-boosting updates, and now the pair's about to be on the receiving end of some additional enhancements. Version 4.7 -- which is also coming to that new Roku HD -- brings with it a slew of improvements, including refined stability for the aforementioned player and a sharpened device discovery method on the company's Android / iOS applications. Inside v4.7, Roku's also added support for channels using Microsoft Smooth Streaming as well as other improvements to help with launch of "several new partner channels" later this year. The refresh is set to arrive automatically over the next 48 hours, though you could always grab it manually by hitting the Software Update menu on your tiny box.

New Roku HD, 2 and LT updated to version 4.7, slew of 'under the hood' improvements in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 03:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Japanese mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, is making a play at the Italian firm Buongiorno, a mobile content provider that boasts two billion customers across 57 countries. The €224 million offer must still be approved by Italian regulators, and would reflect a purchase price of €2 per share for the entirety of Buongiorno's outstanding stock. For its part, NTT DoCoMo hopes the buyout will help bolster its reach outside the home country of Japan, although the purchase is a bit of a gamble just the same. As it stands, Buongiorno's annual operating profit hovers in the neighborhood of €7 million, which means DoCoMo may be in for a bit of a wait before this deal bears fruit. You'll find the nitty gritty details in the PR after the break.

[Raining money photo via Shutterstock]

Continue reading NTT DoCoMo hopes to expand content game with Buongiorno buyout

NTT DoCoMo hopes to expand content game with Buongiorno buyout originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 03:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're needing to keep Mike & Mike an arm's length away at all times, ESPN has refreshed its Radio app to help with just that. Now optimized to the iPad in addition to the iPhone and iPod touch, the software allows you to sort your listening habits by sports, teams and athletes that you follow. The free version offers access to podcasts, the 20-minute SportCenter cycle, and offline listening for on-demand content. Currently, the premium version of the app is free as well -- touting custom stations / playlists, live audio pause / rewind, myESPN personalization, alerts / push notifications and a few more gems to keep you well informed on the latest Red Sox debacle. After a "limited time," though, you'll have to shell out $4.99 for the premium app and its 35 ESPN radio stations. What about Android and WP7 devices, you ask? The folks in Bristol claim that apps for those platforms will arrive later this summer.

Continue reading ESPN Radio app gets a refresh, now properly outfitted for the iPad

ESPN Radio app gets a refresh, now properly outfitted for the iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Among the slew of new Android 4.0 devices unveiled by Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo today were a trio from Panasonic, including the Eluga Power phone we'd seen before and a few new entries in the Eluga V phone and Eluga Live tablet. We've already gotten our mitts all over the Eluga Power's 5-inch screen and 1.5Ghz dual-core S4 CPU at MWC, so this time we'll take a close look into the other two Ice Cream Sandwiched models. The P-06D Eluga V is a 4.6-inch variant (sliding between the Power and original P-04D Eluga) while still packing a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU. The P-08D Eluga Live tablet measures at 10.1-inches, packs DLNA streaming features and slots stereo speakers into a smooth curved edge design. The Eluga V is scheduled to arrive July 6th, while the other two should hit Japanese shelves in January, hit the source link and brink your kanji skills (or translation software) for more information.

Panasonic gifts NTT DoCoMo with Eluga V, Eluga Power smartphones and Eluga Live tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 03:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's seldom the case that we get to look at world smartphone market share on a national level, but Kantar WorldPanel has given a rare peek that might give Windows Phone fans some good news to crow about. Even though things haven't always gone well for the Microsoft camp, Nokia phones like the Lumia 800 sparked a minor Renaissance in some countries in the three months leading up to mid-April: Windows Phone was up to between three and four percent in France, Italy, the UK and the US. The Metro interface must also be sehr gut for Germans, which nearly doubled Windows Phone's local share to six percent in that short space of time.

Kantar is eager to point out that it's still mostly a tale of Android and iOS successes, though. Google took extra ground in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US, while Apple was on a tear both on its native soil and in the UK. HTC's upbeat predictions may have played a significant part in Android's continued rise -- the One X cracked the British top 10 list despite having only been in shops for a few days. About the only underdog story not going well in early spring was RIM's, where the BlackBerry's share of the US was cut to a third of its year-ago glory at three percent.

Kantar: Windows Phone clawing back share thanks to Nokia, but Android still rules the roost originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 May 2012 02:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.