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Polk Audio Xbox N1 sound bar and 133t gaming headphones eyes-on

Brian Heater — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:09:00 -0400

Polk's at E3 showing off two new devices it's showing off at E3 this week that aren't half bad looking. Granted, they're not as slick as some of the higher end products the audio company has shown off in the past, but as far as gaming-centric devices go, they're not too shabby. According to the company, Microsoft approached it specifically to create peripherals for the Xbox, leading Polk to give the world the 133t Gaming Headphones and N1 sound bar.

The 133ts eschew the standard external gaming mic for a little nub that juts out from one ear. To mute it, you just click it back up inside the cup. The headphones also feature a mixer that plugs directly into the controller to help eliminate cords and lets you adjust sound settings on the fly. The Surroundbar, meanwhile, was designed specifically with the Xbox in mind, featuring four modes: Racer, FPS, Music and Cinema, so you can switch between gaming and standard media consumption. The N1 is set for a fall release, with the 133t coming some time in Q4. More info in a press release after the break.

Gallery: Polk Audio Xbox N1 Surroundbar and 133t gaming headphones eyes-on

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

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Nexus One Android 2.3.3 update arrives OTA, breaks Google Voice for some

Thomas Ricker — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 01:56:00 -0500

We're guessing that most of our readers pounced on the official Android 2.3.3 update just as soon as the links lit up last week. But if you did dawdle, don't dally... the latest Gingerbread update is now rolling out over-the-air. Unfortunately, the update also broke Google Voice on our N1 -- something that we fixed by downloading and installing an old GV.apk and then updating to the latest version in Market per instructions found in Google's support forum left by others suffering from the same issue. Hit up the More Coverage link for details.

[Thanks, Tony]

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Nexus One gets tiny update to Android 2.2.2, fixes SMS routing issues

Sean Hollister — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:18:00 -0500

Not to be outdone by its Samsung successor, the Nexus One's getting a miniature over-the-air update as well, sending users on a mind-bending ride from Android 2.2.1 (version FRG83D) to the FRG83G build of Android 2.2.2. When they emerge thoroughly dazzled and confused on the other side, what will they find? We spoke to Google and it's just a few bug fixes, but one of them's rather important -- this update will go down in the annals of history as the one that doesn't inadvertently send humorous texts intended for your co-workers to your deathly serious boss. Oh, and if that sounds like something you'd like to have immediately, rather than waiting for a formal rollout, you can find the file you need at Google's servers right now.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Nexus One now a step closer to FM radio support, thanks to modified kernel

Ross Miller — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:41:00 -0400

As you may or may not be already aware, the Nexus One and HTC Desire have the same Broadcom chip. Seems trivial at cursory glance until you realize the Desire has a FM radio app, which should ergo be just as feasible on the Google-branded device. Cut to xda-developers' intersectRaven, who's released a custom N1 kernel that theoretically brings life to the FM receptor. It's available to download, but as for when you'll get a chance to really use this yourself, that's entirely up to the custom ROM developers updating their respective wares. For his part, Paul O'Brien said today he's already got it working on an upcoming Froyo Sense build for the device -- hang tight, folks, it's coming.

[Thanks, John]

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Nexus One getting Android 2.2 FRF83 update over the air?

Sean Hollister — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:41:00 -0400

The Android 2.2 source code just went public this morning, but we're hearing a fully-compiled, legitimate OTA version of Froyo may be hitting small batches of Nexus One handsets as well. Though a 1.78MB ZIP file floating around XDA-developers this afternoon was originally thought to be the droid we've all been looking for, Android and Me reports that they received an honest-to-goodness OTA version of FRF83 after trying (and failing) to get that ZIP to work, and we're getting several similar reports. Let us know in comments if you've received a frozen treat of your own.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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FaceVsion ships its 720p TouchCam N1 to vowel-averse Skypers

Tim Stevens — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:05:00 -0400

If you need a few more pixels in your video chats but don't necessarily have the processor power to manage them all, you need a Skype HD-certified camera with an on-board hardware encoding. The TouchCam N1 from faceVsion is the latest to ship, a $120 model that manages 720p recording and also includes dual unidirectional mics to ensure that your voice gets through loud and clear from any angle. That seems to be the only real advantage over the Freetalk Everyman HD, which recently went on sale itself -- for $70. The N1 does also offer a wider 78-degree lens compared to the Freetalk's 58, but whether that's worth the extra cheddar is something you'll have to decide.

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Nexus One runs Windows 3.11, possibly the saddest thing we've seen all day (video)

Sean Hollister — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:19:00 -0400

In a volatile Android ecosystem where bigger and better phones pop up every week, your Nexus One might be feeling a little obsolete. Frankly, there's hardly a better way to cheer it up than by installing an operating system that's a little more its speed. In the finest DOSBox tradition, one gentleman recently imbued his Googlephone with Windows 3.11, by far our favorite 1993 Microsoft OS. Realizing the futility of getting it to do anything -- ah, memories -- he set about crafting a step-by-step guide for you to do the same. If you care to give his misery company, you'll find instructions at our source link; if not, don your rose-tinted glasses and peep the video after the break.

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Cellbots get Nexus One upgrade, ad-hoc motion control (video)

Sean Hollister — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:39:00 -0400

Sprint and Verizon may have shunned the Nexus One, but that doesn't mean the handsets can't be put to good use: these Android-controlled, Arduino-powered Cellbots now feature the one true Googlephone as the CPU. At Intel's 2010 International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, we got our hot little hands on the DIY truckbots for the first time, and found to our surprise they'd been imbued with accelerometer-based motion control. Grabbing a Nexus One off a nearby table, we simply tilted the handset forward, back, left and right to make the Cellbot wheel about accordingly, bumping playfully into neighbors and streaming live video the whole time. We were told the first handset wirelessly relayed instructions to the second using Google Chat, after which point a Python script determined the bot's compass facing and activated Arduino-rigged motors via Bluetooth, but the real takeaway here is that robots never fail to amuse. Watch our phone-skewing, bot-driving antics in a video after the break, and see what we mean.

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Google updates Nexus One page, tells Verizon customers to get a Droid Incredible instead (update: the Verizon Nexus One is dead)

Vlad Savov — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:20:00 -0400

Now this, this is all kinds of silly. Google has been busy updating its phone sales site, and the latest word for Verizon Wireless subscribers encourages them to look at the "similarly feature-packed" cousin of the Nexus One, the Incredible. Importantly, what's missing from the new wording is the "coming soon" tag, suggesting that for all intents and purposes the Nexus has been obviated by the arrival of the Incredible. In a separate blog post updating us on carrier partnerships, Google again reiterates its mini-advert for the new HTC phone on Verizon while keeping mum about the Nexus One's future. A true CDMA variant of le superphone should still be coming wearing Sprint regalia, but it's disappointing to see Google use such doublespeak techniques. Is the Verizon Nexus canceled or not?

Update: We just heard back from Google -- the Verizon Nexus One is dead; long live the Incredible. Here's the official statement:

We won't be selling a Nexus One with Verizon, and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem. Verizon Wireless customers who want an Android phone with the power of the Nexus One can get the Droid Incredible by HTC.

Now, that's certainly reasonable, given the similarities between the Nexus One and the Incredible, but here's a question: given that the Incredible runs Sense on top of Android, isn't the closest Verizon analogue to the Nexus One experience actually the Droid, which runs stock Android 2.1? Considering Motorola's recent moves away from Google, maybe this is a sign of something deeper.

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Watch Nexus One get built, then beaten mercilessly

Ross Miller — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:23:00 -0500

This might be the best entry yet in Google's Nexus One video series. Today's double feature is marked by the testing and manufacturing of the device, and while the all-white facilities and assembly lines can be interesting in their own right, we love nothing more than seeing just how Google and HTC stress test its labor of love. Watch it dropped, slammed, bent, poked, and detonated -- okay, maybe not detonated, and we unfortunately don't get to see any phones crack, but it's still good fun. The big game's not on yet, so give yourself a few minutes and hit up the two short videos after the break.

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LG's N1: the T-DMB, surround sound, GPS Windows Mobile PDA

Ryan Block — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:47:00 -0400

PDAs may be dying, but they're certainly far from dead. All the extra room and battery life you gain by pulling a cell radio can be used for other fun things, like, say, GPS, T-DMB, and SRS Mobile HD for mobile "theater-like" surround sound (um, ok). At least that's what LG's new N1 is going for; the powerhouse portable also runs Windows Mobile 5 and plays back the regulars like WMV, WMA, and MP3, as well as a few of our other favorites like DivX, AVI, and OGG. Hell no it's not available or coming to the US, but it's mildly amusing to fantasize about the likes of this stuff landing here sometime before 2010, no?

[Via Wired]

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio/Video, Portable Video

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