Engadget

Intel's Pine Trial Atom D510 already spotted in Chinese nettop

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2009 at 9:19AM

Remember when we first heard that a mythical Atom D510 was on Intel's roadmap way back in June? Yeah, turns out that memo was spot-on, and while the chip maker has since gone official with the next-gen architecture, we've yet to see it within any machine outside of a trade show floor... until now. Halfway around the world, the KND K1850 all-in-one nettop is said to be packing a dual-core 1.66GHz D510 (Pineview) chip, an 18.6-inch display, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and a DVD drive. There's also inbuilt WiFi, a 3-in-1 card reader and a few USB ports, though there's no indication that it'll ever ship to anywhere outside of Asia. 'Course, about four billion other machines from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo will, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll all have the exact same specifications. Oh, joy.

[Via Slashgear]

Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video)

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 15th 2009 at 8:54AM

Want to know just how prevalent technology has become in our lives? Now even lab mice get Quake-derived virtual reality playgrounds to navigate instead of their old school wooden mazes. In all honesty, this appears a significant and praiseworthy advancement, as the Princeton team have succeeded in mapping brain activity right down to the cellular level, with real-time tracking of single neurons now possible. The Orwellian-looking setup above is necessary in order to keep the mouse's head immobile, and thus capable of being studied, while the animal moves around and its brain performs motion-related tasks. Go past the break to see a schematic of the scanner and a quite unmissable video of it in action.

[Via Switched]

Continue reading Mice run through Quake, Princeton neuroscientists scan their brains for traces of evil (video)

Jailbroken iPhone gets Expose-like view, you retail users just keep on scrollin' (video)

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 15th 2009 at 8:33AM

How many apps do you have on your iPhone? Yeah, we figured it was a lot. Being able to re-arrange items now is mighty helpful, but not so helpful as this little hack from Steve Troughton-Smith that adds Exposé-like functionality to the mix. Just press the Home button and up pops a view of all the application pages; tap one and you're taken straight there, as shown in the video after the break. Nice and simple -- and at this point not available even to jailbroken handsets. We're sure that'll change soon, but it's anybody's guess if or when Apple will add something like this to the official OS. Yet another reason to go ahead and roll your own.

Continue reading Jailbroken iPhone gets Expose-like view, you retail users just keep on scrollin' (video)

Nokia posts $834 million quarterly loss, smartphone share down to 35%

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 15th 2009 at 8:12AM

Nokia just posted a net loss of 559 million euro (834 million dollars) for the third quarter -- its first quarterly loss in a decade according to the AFP. The loss comes after a reported 20% drop in sales and 1.17 billion euros in write-downs, mostly for impairment charges on Nokia Siemens Networks. Nokia also said that its smartphone market share dropped to 35% versus 41% in the previous quarter. With fierce competition from Apple and RIM, and Palm just launching its Pre into Nokia's European stronghold, well, it's a good thing Nokia's branching out into untapped markets like single-core Atom-based netbooks.

Read -- Smartphone slip
Read -- First loss in a decade
Read -- Nokia Q3 statement

PURE's Elan II does DAB time-shifting on the go

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 15th 2009 at 7:51AM

Pure Digital's Elan II does DAB time-shifting on the go

Okay, yes, we know that domestic radio is a bit passe these days, but DAB is still kicking strong, and everybody likes portable tuners that can pause and rewind. Such is PURE's Elan II, which isn't quite as lovingly styled as the EVOKE-1S or as feature-packed as the Sensia, but it provides a cheeky '80s look and offers the company's ReVu technology, allowing 15 minutes of pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding of live radio. It'll do FM too, naturally has a line-in for your choice of PMP, and will rock out plug-free for an impressive 35 hours when you fit an optional battery pack, which looks to cost about £25. The radio itself is £99.99, and since we get no DAB love here in the States we won't bother converting those numbers into their dollar equivalents.

[Via Shiny Shiny]

Ekahau's T301W Wi-Fi wristband wirelessly tracks kids, wandering grandparents

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 15th 2009 at 7:18AM

What's the best technology to use to track people who like to wander off? You might be inclined to say GPS, but stagger into a cave or basement (or, sometimes, a city street) and suddenly you're off the grid, man. Not with Ekahau's T301W wristband: it uses Wi-Fi to beam location information. Yes, we know that your average cave doesn't have Wi-Fi, but Ekahau has a range of beacons available that will fix that, and when in the presence of those beacons (or any other configured Wi-Fi network) a wristband can be located to within a few feet. It's the latest of a variety of similar devices from Ekahau, but the first small enough and waterproof enough to be wearable, which has the company envisioning everyone from cruise ship captains to secret service agents slapping these on their visitors. At $60 a pop, though, we're not sure how many organizations will be able to afford that many.

BlackBerry Bold 9700 official on T-Mobile Germany, November launch confirmed

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 15th 2009 at 6:48AM

Perhaps the worst kept secret till now -- outside of Walt Mossberg's embargo slipups -- was that T-Mobile and the latest BlackBerry flagship device were set for a November marriage. Hell, there were even invitations to the party. So, whether you call it the Bold 2, the 9700, or the Onyx, come next month you'll be able to lovingly place its 480 x 360 display, WiFi antennae and all that other hotness in a Curve-sized space inside your pocket. We can expect this first official confirmation to be followed by similar appearances in the US and across Europe as the 9700 begins its ascension to the throne of the BlackBerry kingdom.

[Thanks, Richy]

Logitech Notebook Kit MK605 asks 'what multitouch revolution?'

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 15th 2009 at 6:25AM

Logitech, the company that's dropped more than a billion mice in our laps, is back with a glossy, gold-accented new laptop accessory kit. There's not an overwhelming amount we can tell you that you can't already see above, so we'll go ahead and point out that the laser mouse (M505) and keyboard duo are controlled wirelessly via Logitech's teeny tiny Unifying Receiver (which comes as part of the package), and the laptop stand is capable of accommodating machines with screens up to 15.6 inches diagonally. The riser also has three elevation levels, while the keyboard packs a full numeric pad -- something at least Excel-loving accountants should appreciate. Expect the set to show up in Europe and the US this November with a price around $100.

[Via Electronista]

MorphOS for Amiga adds Mac mini support, someone in Europe is delighted

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Oct 15th 2009 at 6:07AM

Amiga owners are a loyal bunch. And they have to be -- stuck with a machine frozen in time (even if OS 5 was claimed to be "better than OS X") and little in the way of support, the manner in which they've stubbornly stuck with the platform over the years can only be described as a labor of love. If you've been wondering what all the fuss is about but no longer have a PowerPC-based Amiga system handy, the MorphOS Dev Team has just announced that its latest -- MorphOS 2.4 -- now supports Mac mini G4 machines. Available now, you can either hit the read link to download for yourself, or wait until the upcoming Amiga user group meeting in Bad Bramstedt, Germany. You know, whatever you find more convenient. As for us, we're going to go play a game of Ooops Up! for old time's sake.

[Thanks, Antti Jarvinen]

Zoom's high-fidelity Q3 pocket camcorder ships to America

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2009 at 5:27AM

Hailed as the first and only handheld video recorder to record HD audio, Zoom's Q3 Handy Video recorder is definitely a unique offering amongst the legions of me-toos. After being announced in July and tickling our senses right around a month ago, the Q3 has finally begun to ship en masse to eager consumers. Just in case you've forgotten, this bugger records 24-bit/48 kHz audio via a pair of condenser microphones, gets powered by two AA cells and captures video at 640 x 480 (30fps). There's also a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 LCD and an SDHC card slot, though you'll have to shell out $249 in order to get this kind of technology into your own pocket. Order up, kids!

Gallery: Zoom's high-fidelity Q3 pocket camcorder ships to America

Continue reading Zoom's high-fidelity Q3 pocket camcorder ships to America

Microsoft recovers 'most, if not all' Sidekick customer data

by Vladislav Savov posted Oct 15th 2009 at 4:45AM

Steve Ballmer must have busted out his secret stash of magic dust, as Microsoft has just come out with the announcement that it has recovered "most, if not all, customer data" that was lost during the recent Sidekick debacle. Following the wildly embarassing fiasco attributed to a "system failure that created data loss in the core database and the back-up," T-Mobile and Redmond have "rebuilt the system component by component" and now promise to restore data to affected users in the most expedient fashion possible. Guess that means you won't be getting $100 from T-Mobile for losing your Tetris high scores after all.

[Thanks, Abe G.]

Vodafone puts BlackBerry Storm2 up for 26 October preorder

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 15th 2009 at 4:34AM

And it's out. The BlackBerry Storm2 just made its first official carrier appearance with Vodafone. The promising followup to the much maligned BlackBerry Storm will be free on pay-monthly contracts from £35 on up. Specs include a 3.25-inch 360 x 480 pixel capacitive SurePress (new and improved) touchscreen display, 802.11b/g WiFi and 2100MHz UMTS/HSPA data, 256MB of flash memory (double that of the original Storm), 2GB of onboard memory with microSDHC expansion, 3.5-mm standard headset jack, 3.2 megapixel camera with video recording, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 2.1, and 1400mAh battery giving about 6 hours of 3G talk. BlackBerry OS 5 too, of course, when it lands on October 15th in the UK, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, and Spain -- France, Italy, and South Africa in time for Christmas.

Update: Now on official RIM page too with a detailed comparison against the original Storm.

Gallery: Vodafone and RIM introduce the BlackBerry Storm2 Smartphone

[Thanks, James]

Read -- Press Release
Read -- Pre-order

Motorola to introduce eight OPhones on China Mobile next year, celebrate intensely

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2009 at 3:36AM

M otorol a may be pinning its comeback hopes on the CLIQ here in America, but it obviously has some rather large plans for the world's largest carrier, too. An admittedly perplexing report has surfaced purporting that the creator of the iconic i776, er, RAZR, is fixing to distribute not one, not two, but eight OPhones to China Mobile next year. For those unaware, OPhone is an Android-based OS tailor made to operate on the aforesaid carrier and cater to its customers, and to date, quite a few other manufacturers have jumped on board over there. Sadly, no actual details about the eight Moto handsets were given, so it looks like it's just you, a cup of joe and your hyperactive imagination for the time being.

Laughably large Red Light Camera Detector proves that you should just drive safely

by Darren Murph posted Oct 15th 2009 at 2:38AM

Just a hunch here, but we get the feeling that you've gone one step too far when you decide to install a red light camera detector in your vehicle that's larger than a) your GPS unit and b) the bag phone you used between the years 1991 and 1994. For those bold enough to disagree, there's the wild and wacky device pictured above, delivered to you by none other than Hammacher Schlemmer. Packing an internal database of 6,000 red light and speed cameras across the US and Canada, the GPS-enabled device also boasts a 1.6-inch OLED screen to show your position in relation to upcoming cameras, and of course it'll belt out all sorts of warnings to help you avoid the inevitable. Of course, you could just follow the rules of the road, but then you'd have no excuse to burn $199.95 up front and $19.95 annually on this heap. Tough call, no?

[Via NaviGadget]

Giant Android eclair delivered to Google by even bigger nerds (video)

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 15th 2009 at 1:37AM

By now you should be familiar with Google's confectionary codenames for its Google Android OS: version 1.5 (Cupcake), 1.6 (Donut), 2.0 (Eclair) and version x.x (Flan). What you probably didn't know is that Google honors each release by dropping a steaming hot foam facsimile onto its front lawn. Historically, the arrival of the giant Donut at the GooglePlex was followed by the 1.6 developer release of Android just a few days later. Don't get too excited though, last we heard Eclair wouldn't arrive until Q2 of 2010 for consumers. Video and another view of the nerds "gone wild" just after the break.

[Via TechCrunch]

Continue reading Giant Android eclair delivered to Google by even bigger nerds (video)

Acer debuts stylish, multitouch-enabled Aspire Z5610 all-in-one PC

by Donald Melanson posted Oct 15th 2009 at 1:01AM

We had heard that Acer had some touch-enabled Windows 7 devices in the works, and it looks like the company is now finally starting to deliver on that promise, and then some, with its new Aspire Z5610 all-in-one PC. Boasting a 24-inch HD touchscreen with full multitouch support, this one rounds things out with some decent if unremarkable specs, including a Pentium Dual Core E5300 processor, ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive, among other standard fare. It's the design of the desktop that's sure to turn the most heads, however, and while Acer's claim of it being a "timeless piece" might be a bit of a stretch, there are certainly plenty of touches that are a cut above the rest -- we're especially curious to see how the illuminated strip between the LCD and soundbar works (it's designed to light up the keyboard in the dark). Best of all, this one packs an MSRP of just $899, and should be available sometime this holiday season.

The daily roundup: here's what you might've missed

by Ross Miller posted Oct 14th 2009 at 11:59PM


	Nikon D3S is officially official, bringing its ISO extremes in late November The professional-grade DSLR is packing a rather wide ISO range of 200 to 12,800, which can be further boosted to 102,400. (See also: Nikon D3S shows its high ISO prowess in two sample videos)		Acer Liquid mixes Snapdragon and Android 1.6 'donut' for a movable feast It's presumably tuned to 1GHz (or higher) and not 768MHz as listed on the eXpansys Germany spec-sheet -- a trick that'll make this the fastest Android handset on the planet.
	Core Values: The silicon behind Android All present day Android phones use virtually the same Qualcomm application processor, all based on a sluggish 528MHz ARM11 core. Blech.	Other news of import Wi-Fi Direct enabling P2P communications amongst WiFi wares, scaring Bluetooth half to death Flip MinoHD goes premium, we go hands-on Michael Dell curiously talks down netbooks, slyly bad-mouths Vista
	ATI Radeon HD 5750 brings HDMI bliss to HTPCs for $110 Of course price and HDMI audio capabilities aren't the only factors when choosing a video card for your HTPC, so you might want to keep waiting -- you know another few weeks -- for a version that doesn't take up two of your card slots for a fan that is no doubt anything but quiet.		Motorola Droid (alias Sholes) finally gets a decent headshot At last eluding the omnipresent Mr. Blurrycam, Motorola's Android-powered Sholes handset has finally gotten the sort of photography it deserves, apparently with an official go-to-market name of Droid -- or at least one decent photo of it.
Ask Engadget HD: Would an SSD upgrade help my HTPC performance? Xbox 360 Dashboard Update... updates: Preview program reopened, Sky TV due Oct. 27		Samsung's solar Blue Earth launching in Sweden this month, elsewhere soon No-contract $30 / $45 Straight Talk wireless plans storm Walmart

Motorola CLIQ review

by Chris Ziegler posted Oct 14th 2009 at 10:45PM

Palm and Motorola have taken very different paths to get where they are today; one began life as a scrappy Valley start-up founded by a tablet computing pioneer, the other traces its roots to all the way back to the early days of consumer electronics and the automotive industry. Yet somehow, through years (decades, even) of adventure, success, and misfortune, they've found themselves in exactly the same situation here in 2009: it's do-or-die time. Palm, of course, has elected to try its hand at resurrecting the very thing that took it to superstardom in the first place -- an elegant, tightly-controlled software platform of its own with hardware to match -- while Motorola has thrown virtually all of its remaining weight behind Android in the hope that it can catch a little mojo from Google's ecosystem.

For Motorola, it's the wireless equivalent of stepping up to the roulette table, putting what's left of your depleted life savings on red, and letting it ride just as you see security guards off in the distance coming to throw you -- penniless -- off the premises. It's a gamble of the highest order, but it's also a gamble Motorola's painfully aware that it needs to take. North America's only top-five handset manufacturer needs nothing less than magic (and a little luck) to earn its way back into the world's wireless elite -- and that risky play starts right here, today, with the CLIQ / DEXT.

So does the CLIQ pave the way to a New Motorola, or did the RAZR's checkered legacy ultimately dig a hole too deep to escape? Read on.

Gallery: Motorola CLIQ review

Continue reading Motorola CLIQ review

Walt Mossberg leaks the BlackBerry Storm 2

by Nilay Patel posted Oct 14th 2009 at 10:40PM

Well, well, looks like Unkie Walt accidentally programmed his calendar to publish a combined preview of the Motorola CLIQ and the BlackBerry Storm 2 a little earlier than everyone else. Nothing particularly insightful on the CLIQ, but Mossy says RIM's latest is a big improvement over the original Storm -- mostly because of the revamped touchscreen, which provides "faster, smoother typing." Yep, that's pretty much what we were expecting. Walt's also high on the inclusion of WiFi and the portrait-mode keyboard, but ain't nothing gonna make that BlackBerry browser any good, and the big guy says the touch interface still feels tacked to the rapidly-aging BlackBerry OS. So Walt -- now that you've confirmed RIM and Verizon's big holiday launch, what can you tell us about pricing and availability? "Likely to appear in November at around $200," you say? Thanks, buddy. You're always so dependable. Video that we took of a broken Storm 2 prototype in May after the break, tons of pics in the gallery

Gallery: BlackBerry Storm 2 hands-on

Continue reading Walt Mossberg leaks the BlackBerry Storm 2

Layar now adding layers of augmented reality to iPhone

by Ross Miller posted Oct 14th 2009 at 10:21PM

Since your Android handset-owning friends and colleagues can't have all the phone, Layar has finally made the leap to iPhone. It's now available in the iTunes app store for the enticing price of nada, with its own third-party ecosystem to boot -- only iPhone 3GS customers need apply, though, since without the magnetometer this is kind of a wash. We've only spent a few minutes with the new version, but it seems like much of our initial impressions from August seem to hold true, for better and for worse. But don't take our word for it, download away! [Warning: iTunes link]

[Via Wired]