Opening the Book(Book) on Twelve South: between the covers of a Mac-exclusive accessory maker
The year is 2009. In history books, it'll widely be recognized as the year that most of America -- heck, the world -- would prefer to forget. Job after job was lost, bank after bank fell, and humanity as we knew it plunged into "the worst recession since the Great Depression." It's also the year that Palm attempted a comeback with webOS, and as it turns out, the year that yet another accessory company was Read more...
Engadget, Today, 12:45pm
AT&T launches Samsung Galaxy Appeal GoPhone, available at Walmart on June 5th for $150
What's in a name? For the Samsung Galaxy Appeal, everything. The moniker of AT&T's new Android GoPhone fits the manufacturer's current legal situation perfectly, though admittedly its side-slider QWERTY-packing form factor is the least likely of Sammy's lineup to catch the attention of Cupertino's team of suits. Joking aside, the 4.3-ounce Appeal offers Android 2.3, a 3.2-inch HVGA (that's 480 x 320) display, 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7225A processor, 3MP rear camera and 512MB of RAM. It's also made... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 12:22pm
Google Search for iPhone gets the 2.0 remake, full-screen search and swipes aplenty
Google gave its official search app an iPad remake late last year, and now it's smaller iPhone and iPod touch devices getting the new UI's treatment. As of Google Search App 2.0, the smaller iOS devices see a big emphasis on full-screen navigation, with an automatic full-screen mode and a dedicated full-screen photo search making the most of the limited display real estate. You can now swipe back to search results like you could with the iPad, and it's overall much faster in the app to hop between different search types as well as web apps like Calendar or Read more...
Engadget, Today, 12:01pm
Gigabyte to unveil X11 on May 31st as lightest laptop ever, spooks us with talk of 'sixth element'
Gigabyte is clearly hoping to carve out a name for itself in a very crowded ultraportable space; it sent us word of a media event for a new X11 laptop in its native Taipei on May 31st, just a few days ahead of Computex. The PC designer claims that the X11 will be the "lightest notebook on Earth," a pretty audacious claim considering the featherweight competition. Most of the braggadocio, we suspect, is rooted in... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 11:43am
Facebook, Zuckerberg Sued Over IPO
Section: yro, Department: death-taxes-and-lawsuits
Slashdot, Today, 11:40am
KDE Announces Partner Network
Section: linux, Department: building-infrastructure
Slashdot, Today, 11:20am
Social Bicycles announces availability by end of summer, we go hands-on (video)
When last saw the Social Bicycles (SoBi), there wasn't a heck of a lot to report on. The whole thing was little more than a concept, a Kickstarter page and an early prototype. Flash forward just under a year later, and it's beginning to look a lot like a real, consumer-facing product. The New York startup showed off its bike and a couple of apps today at TechCrunch Disrupt. The concept here is not too dissimilar from a Read more...
Engadget, Today, 11:06am
Worried About Information Leaks, IBM Bans Siri
Section: search, Department: dave-what-are-you-doing
Slashdot, Today, 10:58am
Amazon adds 'hundreds' of Paramount movies to Prime, signals a Clear and Present Danger to free time
Amazon is keeping its pace of expanding Amazon Prime's video collection every few months, and today it's Paramount's turn to swell the ranks. Instant Video is getting 'hundreds' of Paramount's movies, including both relatively recent movies like Nacho Libre and Mission: Impossible III as well as back catalog titles like Breakfast at Tiffany's and Clear and Present Danger. As always, the movies are watchable anywhere you've got broadband, and they don't add a premium to the... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 10:49am
Options For Good (Not Expensive) Office Backbone For a Small Startup
Section: it, Department: office-with-small-o-is-fine
Slashdot, Today, 10:33am
Samsung rumored to tweak Galaxy Note 10.1 inside and out
It certainly looks like Samsung has redesigned the 10.1-inch version of its Galaxy Note, which it promised back at MWC. At a German event this week, a slimmer version of the tablet was snapped sporting a built in S-Pen slot that had also been sweating off some extra pounds. So much so, that the company will retail a dedicated pen holder to make your electronic doodling more comfortable. We've also heard unconfirmed rumors that the... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 10:31am
Nokia World broken up into smaller events, bumped up to September 5-6
We hope you hadn't planned too much of your late summer around the original Nokia World 2012 schedule, because the timetable has just been given a big shakeup. Instead of holding one, monolithic event in late September, Finland's phone giant is splitting the show into smaller, more targeted events. The first will start much earlier than planned, running between September 5th and 6th in Helsinki, but don't expect any big Lumia introductions: the early show is focused on carrier and store partners rather than any opportunities for a Read more...
Engadget, Today, 10:17am
Chrome Browser Usage Artificially Boosted, Says Microsoft
Section: technology, Department: depends-who's-counting
Slashdot, Today, 10:11am
Incantor brings World of Warcraft to real life (hands-on)
There's plenty of cool stuff to see on the floor of this year's TechCrunch Disrupt, but nothing's likely quite so eye-catching as Incantor, a mobile game that utilizes your smartphone and, naturally, a magic wand, to bring fantasy-style action to the real world -- or as the game's creators put it, to "bring World of Warcraft to real life." The wand speaks to your handset via Bluetooth, detecting your gestures and generating "spells." Hold your phone in portrait, and you'll get personal information, including your character level,... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 9:51am
MIT's LiquiGlide could spell the end of slow-moving ketchup nightmares (video)
A team from MIT has decided to end slow-pouring ketchup problems once and for all with its LiquiGlide project. Instead of karate-chopping the 57 logo on the bottle's neck, a super-non-stick coating is sprayed on the inside of its glass container. It's so good that even highly viscous liquids like ketchup and mayonnaise roll out of the bottle and onto your dinner as if it was water. All the chemicals used are already FDA approved, meaning that it's already safe to be used in food production. If adopted, it'd save around one million tons of trapped sauce from being wasted every year. Since... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 9:29am
SAP VP Arrested In False Barcode Scheme
Section: yro, Department: always-use-bitcoins-for-lego-arbitrage
Slashdot, Today, 9:28am
NTT DoCoMo bids for 700MHz spectrum, will drop two big-ones if it succeeds
NTT DoCoMo is applying to extend its network to the 700MHz spectrum after losing out the coveted 900MHz band to smaller rival Softbank Read more...
Engadget, Today, 9:02am
Russia To Establish Bases On the Moon
Section: science, Department: reopening-the-tang-mines
Slashdot, Today, 8:48am
Delorme's inReach two-way satellite communicator gets iOS support, sends iPhone texts from Timbuktu (video)
If you're an iPhone or iPad owner, you might have been disappointed that the Delorme inReach two-way GPS communicator launched with app support only for Android users. That's fine if you're trekking with a Casio G'zOne Commando, but not so hot if you're of the Apple mindset and get stranded canoeing down the Amazon. Thankfully, Delorme just posted an iOS version of its Earthmate app that will let your Cupertino-designed gear send either text messages or SOS beacons through... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 8:35am
Legislation In New York To Ban Anonymous Speech Online
Section: yro, Department: enjoy-funding-the-internet-anonymity-police
Slashdot, Today, 8:13am
Army spy blimp to launch within weeks: 300 feet long, $500 million, 'multi-intelligent'
It can't go faster than 34MPH and it's already a year late for its planned deployment in Afghanistan, but Northrop Grumman's Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) is now set for its maiden flight. The test run is scheduled for sometime between June 6th and 10th over Lakehurst, New Jersey, whose residents ought to be forewarned that it is not a solar eclipse or a Read more...
Engadget, Today, 8:04am
NHK working on Hybridcast interactive TV platform (video)
NHK is working on Hybridcast (an entirely different system to the Hybridcast 3D-delivery setup it demonstrated last year), a system that uses the internet to make vanilla TV broadcasts interactive. It works by pushing HTML5 overlays to your tablet and TV, so you can play along with quiz shows or follow a travelogue from the comfort of your couch. The company is planning to build a set-top-box with the technology ready for sale next year, with integrated TVs hoped... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 7:32am
NVIDIA outlines Kai platform, hopes to make good on quad-core $199 tablet promise
When NVIDIA's Jen-Hsun Huang talked of $199 Tegra 3 tablets, we were nothing but skeptically hopeful. Now, it seems those were more than just words. During a recent stockholder meeting, VP of Investor Relations, Rob Csongor, revealed the firm's strategy to deliver on this budget quad-core promise. Announcing the "Kai" platform, Csongor stopped short of giving specifics, but implied that the architecture or hardware borrows... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 7:02am
Douglas Coupland's V-Pole unifies wireless connectivity and EV charging in an LED streetlight
It's still very much a concept, and not something being described as a business venture, but author / designer Douglas Coupland is hoping that his new "V-Pole" design will serve as something of a model for cities looking to build out their technology infrastructure. As you can see, it's a rather nondescript (albeit brightly-colored) pole on the outside, but Coupland sees the inside being packed with an array of the latest technology, including Alcatel-Lucent lightRadios for wireless connectivity... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 5:57am
FCC Boss Backs Metering the Internet
Section: yro, Department: deposit-seven-cents-to-continue-reading
Slashdot, Today, 5:21am
Kyocera Hydro bares all for the FCC
What's a spankin' new Android phone to do hot off its CTIA 2012 debut? Why, stop by the FCC for an inside-out coming out party. The Kyocera-crafted handset outlined in the docs looks to be the recently unveiled Hydro, as the device's model number -- C5170 -- matches that of the unit we got hands-on with in New Orleans. The filings don't spill much of the middleweight mobile's guts, but we were able to discern radios for CDMA 1900MHz, WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth, as well as the existence of a 1,500mAh battery.... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 4:05am
Mozilla Announces Web Development Learning Initiative
Section: technology, Department: where-do-all-the-cat-pictures-come-from
Slashdot, Today, 3:43am
Lenovo beats PC market with 46 percent profit surge
Yep, it's party-time in Beijing once again. While the PC industry as a whole reportedly grew by a tight handful of percentage points over the past year, Lenovo has somehow managed to continue its long-running growth spurt, with shipments up 44 percent and operating profits up 46 percent. Sales of both laptop and desktop (including IdeaCentre all-in-ones) grew roughly equally, helped along by blossoming demand in emerging... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 3:16am
Acer Iconia A510 Olympic Tab to launch in UK next month
Acer has been known to celebrate the Olympic Games with special-edition tech, so we weren't exactly surprised when the company launched a festive version of the Iconia Tab A510 this April in anticipation of the Summer Games in London. Now that the event is just two months away, the Tab is preparing to make its UK debut. According to the Inquirer Read more...
Engadget, Today, 2:50am
EU Blocks France's Ban of Monsanto's GM Maize
Section: politics, Department: renamed-to-freedom-corn
Slashdot, Today, 2:19am
Robo-fish swim into the ocean's funk, so you don't have to
Gene Roddenberry would have you believe that space is the final frontier. But really, the deep blue sea is more apt for that distinction. And without mega-rich hobbyists to fund exploratory plunges into those uncharted depths, science has had to seek out an alternative, more cost-effective means. Enter the robotic fish. Measuring five feet in length (1.5 meters), lasting up to eight hours and costing about $32,000... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 1:58am
SEC Calls For Review of Facebook IPO
Section: news, Department: somebody's-in-trouble
Slashdot, Today, 1:15am
RAMPAGE 6 notepad runs Android 2.3 in a rugged package
The last time we heard from SDG Systems, it was shilling its Trimble Nomad with Android 1.5. The company's new device, the RAMPAGE 6 (confusingly, it's also known as the Mesa Rugged Notepad), thankfully includes a less prehistoric build of the OS. The notepad runs a customized version of Android 2.3 on a 5.7-inch display, and it lives up to the "rugged" in its name with IP67 protection ratings for water and dust. Other specs, however, are less heavy-duty: the RAMPAGE 6 packs an 806MHz processor, 256MB of RAM and 4GB of Flash memory. An SD card slot, USB host and client ports, a headphone... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 1:14am
Machine-Guided Learning Matches Teachers In Study
Section: news, Department: open-your-books-to-beep-boop-beep
Slashdot, Today, 12:23am
Hillcrest Labs takes its TV motion control system to China, becomes TCL's new best friend
It's only been a few days since Hillcrest Labs open sourced its Kylo web browser for TVs, and now the company's back with yet another announcement. Well, this time it's more about TCL who's just declared its top TV market share in China. Much like the Roku 2 and LG TVs with Magic Motion remote, Hillcrest's Freespace engine has been outted as the enabling technology... Read more...
Engadget, Today, 12:01am
Sci-fi Writer Elizabeth Moon Believes Everyone Should Be Chipped
Section: yro, Department: i'm-sorry-have-you-met-humanity
Slashdot, Yesterday, 11:30pm
Microsoft details Windows 8's pre-boot world, helps you skip the F8 F8 F8 routine
Microsoft has been going into very exacting detail as to how Windows 8 works, but one area it hasn't explored much is what happens before you even see the Start screen. As user experience manager Chris Clark notes, the days of mashing F8 repeatedly to reach a pre-boot configuration are (mostly) over: you can invoke it either through an "advanced startup" in settings, through Start menu shortcuts or, if your PC is truly sick, let it show automatically. At least on systems Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 11:09pm
The Price of Military Tech Assistance In Movies
Section: entertainment, Department: as-american-as-propaganda-pie
Slashdot, Yesterday, 10:29pm
Mobile security researchers present Android Malware Genome Project at IEEE
Android's openness, combined with its popularity, has lead a few of the developer faithful astray -- with malware being a legitimate concern for the mobile operating system. To help combat the issue, Xuxian Jiang, an NC State researcher, has created the Android Malware Genome Project, which was presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security this week. The aim is to collect and analyse all the known malicious software, and share the findings so that more effective and preventative measures to be taken by the community. Jiang claims that the main drawback... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 10:13pm
Researchers power microbots made of bubbles with lasers
They may not be "robots" as most have come to expect, but these so-called microrobots developed by a team of researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa do have at least one thing in common with many of their mechanical counterparts: lasers. As IEEE Spectrum reports, the bots themselves are actually nothing more than bubbles of air in a saline solution, but they become "microrobots" when the laser is added to the equation, which serves as an engine of sorts and allows the researchers to control both the speed and direction of the bubbles. That, they say, could allow the bots to be used for a variety of tasks, including assembling microstructures and then disappearing without a trace when the bubble is popped. Head on past the break for a video of what they're... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 9:27pm
PSA: Windows Phone Marketplace now requires Windows Phone 7.5
Microsoft warned us last month that it would be snipping legacy OS support in Windows Phone Marketplace within a few weeks, and it just made good on that heads-up. As of now, you'll need at least a Windows Phone 7.5 device to shop for, review and update apps, no matter how much you want that fix for Ilo Milo. The company still argues that the cutoff is needed to improve speed and security in the Marketplace as well as lay a foundation for a better Windows Phone future. Given that... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 8:42pm
Engineer Guy shows how a phone accelerometer works, knows what's up and sideways (video)
We love finding out how things work, and arguably one of the most important parts of the smartphones and tablets we thrive on is the accelerometer gauging our device's orientation. Imagine our delight, then, when we see the University of Illinois' Bill Hammack (i.e. The Engineer Guy) giving a visual rundown of how accelerometers work. Although it's certainly the Cliff's Notes version of what's going on in your Android phone or iPhone, the video does a great job of explaining the basic concepts behind three-axis motion sensing and goes on to illustrate how MEMS chips boil the idea down to the... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 8:06pm
Engadget HD Podcast 300 - 05.22.2012
This week the Engadget HD podcast crew rolls the odometer over 300 episodes, but it's no big deal. Especially not when we've got new hardware and software from the likes of TiVo and Comcast to discuss during Cable Show 2012. Comcast is actually all over the news this week, with bandwidth policy changes and new features. Motorola won't be left behind either, showing off a new concept DreamGallery UI, while our old friend Moxi is even in the house with an update. Also up for discussion is whether or not 96k TrueHD audio sampling is worth getting excited over, Super Hi-Vision broadcasts and a new web streaming UI from Netflix. Get the podcast [ Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 7:37pm
Ion launches Air Pro WiFi, helps you document your morning commute (video)
Ion's officially releasing its Air Pro camera that we put through its paces back in March. The sports shooter is designed to be strapped to a helmet or extreme-sports gear to document your extreme adventures in high definition. It'll also come with 8GB of free storage from MiMedia to share your death-risking achievements over the internet. Budget models are available starting at $230, but for the full package (with the WiFi module) it'll set you back $350 from today. Oh, and if you'd like to see what you're expected to do with the gear, you can head past the jump for... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 7:14pm
VIA Technologies outs $49 APC Android barebones, nods towards Raspberry Pi
Android might have already spilled over into the desktop world in one form or another, but what if you want something a little more project-friendly? VIA Technologies has developed the APC, a Neo-ITX-based barebones system running a custom version of Android 2.3 optimized for... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 6:49pm
Frontline investigates the cause of cell tower deaths tonight (video)
Engadget, Yesterday, 6:31pm
Dragon Drive! lets you take the wheel, while Nuance takes dictation
Do you like your cars smart? Are you itching to drive something a bit more K.I.T.T. than KIA? Well, this summer the glory of your Hasselhoff-soaked, '80s dreams will become reality, thanks to the folks at Nuance. Utilizing the same natural-language voice software currently employed across select mobile phones and TV sets, the outfit's hatched a new platform, dubbed Dragon Drive!, specifically for Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 6:12pm
NASA app goes 2.0, the safest launch this century
When we're not looking up at the stars, we're likely looking at a screen, so any chance to combine those two is greeted with open arms. As it happens, we've been thumbing NASA's iOS app for a while, and now it's finally gotten an update. Users of the iPhone / iPod version can enjoy -- among other things -- a new interface, weather forecasts in the sighting opportunity sections and printing support. So, if you missed the action this morning, perhaps you can print off a... Read more...
Engadget, Yesterday, 5:48pm