Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 welcomes iPads, iPhones and iPods into its emporium of awesome
November 10, 2010 No Comment
iPod and iPhone users aren’t exactly bereft of choice for places to dock their audio transporters, but what if you prefer to keep your music collection on your iPad? Okay, actually there are a couple of options for you out there as well, but few will be quite as bodacious (or expensive, we’re sure) as Bang & Olufsen’s latest. The BeoSound 8 straps a pair of cones to a connecting bar, adds some feet, a wall bracket, and a remote control, and sends you home to enjoy some “outstanding sound performance.” USB and auxiliary line-in connectors are available if you’re not dancing to Steve Jobs’ tune, while the body can be had in white or black and the speaker covers come in a variety of colors to express your individuality with. Look for the BeoSound 8 at your nearest B&O outlet later this month. [Thanks, Jesper] Gallery: Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 speaker dock Continue reading Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 welcomes iPads, iPhones and iPods into its emporium of awesome Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 8 welcomes iPads, iPhones and iPods into its emporium of awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 06:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nokia SVP of Symbian Smartphones talks portrait QWERTY, Symbian ‘bashing,’ and MeeGo devices
November 10, 2010 No Comment
Jo Harlow, Nokia’s Senior VP of Symbian Smartphones was in Amsterdam for the kickoff of the Symbian Exchange and Exposition, giving us the chance for a sit down with the seven year Nokia veteran. How could we resist given the recent launch of Symbian^3 , Nokia then announcing a new iterative approach to Symbian updates, and then Monday’s ( expected ) bombshell that the Symbian Foundation would hand over operation responsibility for the OS to Nokia. While the full transcript is available after the break, we wanted to highlight the following: Symbian user interface improvements are Nokia’s top priority. According to Jo, “We are planning a few user interface improvements in early 2011 including split screen text input, portrait QWERTY — there will be other improvements coming shortly after particularly in the visual appeal of the graphics of the device.” While Jo stopped short of saying that changes in the Symbian Foundation will accelerate Symbian updates, she did concede that it eliminates a step making things “simpler” — and that’s a positive thing. Jo also reminded us that Nokia’s plans for MeeGo stretch beyond traditional handset formats. And just like Symbian handsets will form a “fat center” in Nokia’s device portfolio, she expects Nokia’s MeeGo offerings to be “pretty big and fat as well.” Read on for the full interview in addition to Jo’s thoughts on Symbian’s “infinite possibility to surprise people,” Stephen Elop’s performance in his first two months on the job, and her frustration at not being able to move faster amidst all of the “Symbian bashing.” Continue reading Nokia SVP of Symbian Smartphones talks portrait QWERTY, Symbian ‘bashing,’ and MeeGo devices Nokia SVP of Symbian Smartphones talks portrait QWERTY, Symbian ‘bashing,’ and MeeGo devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Dell Venue Pro has a microSD card slot, you’ll just need to void your warranty to use it
November 10, 2010 No Comment
Remember the good chap that brought us pictorial evidence of the Venue Pro in Microsoft stores on Monday? Well, he was fortunate enough to snag one of those precious devices for himself and today he’s back on the path of spreading enlightenment by revealing that Dell’s 4.1-inch WP7 slider comes with a microSD card slot. Storage expandability is something of a running joke backstory for Windows Phone 7, with HTC hiding its expansion slots deeply within the 7 Mozart and HD7 and Samsung’s more readily accessible one on the Focus also throwing up issues . The Venue Pro’s approach is closer to Samsung’s, insofar as you don’t have to tear down the phone to stick a new microSD card inside it, but it does expect you to bust through a warranty sticker to get at the port. So it’s there and can be used, but the risk will be all yours if you do. [Thanks, dawookie] Dell Venue Pro has a microSD card slot, you’ll just need to void your warranty to use it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 04:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Does that look like a 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab to you? Sure does to us though Tech-on! is calling it an “electronic book reader” prototype from Samsung. Thing is, when was the last time you made a 3G video call using a dedicated ebook reader? The 10.1-inch panel is a 1.8-mm thick LCD prototype on display right now at the FPD International trade show in Japan. It features a 1,024 x 600 pixel panel resolution, 250nits brightness, and covers 50% of the NTSC color gamut. And while this particular slim panel won’t be ready for commercialization for another two or three years, there’s nothing stopping Samsung from bunging a production-ready LCD into the 10-inch Galaxy Tab promised for 2011. Check the new LCD in profile after the break. Continue reading 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab teased with prototype panel? 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab teased with prototype panel? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 03:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …BIAC’s C71 EV has hot-swappable battery packs and a questionable sense of style
November 10, 2010 No Comment
Electric cars hold the potential to eliminate your monthly gasoline bill, but if you want to go more than 100 miles or so at this point you’d better plan to make a bunch of lengthy pit-stops along the way. There are various solutions, like the Volt ‘s on-board generator or Nissan’s offer to replace your Leaf with something a little more traditional for long weekend trips into the country. But, to us, battery swapping seems like the best plan. Better Place is the leader in this space but BAIC, the Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company, is showing off its own solution, the charmingly named C71 EV that looks like what might happen if a SAAB and a Toyota spent a crazy night together in Shanghai. It’s a $45,000 car with a 60Ah floor-mounted battery pack that can be swapped in just five minutes, each delivering 150km (93 miles) of range and can naturally be charged by more traditional means (a plug) should you not be in such a hurry. The car is said to be available sometime next year, but we’ve heard that one before. BIAC’s C71 EV has hot-swappable battery packs and a questionable sense of style originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 03:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We were promised a 7-inch Super AMOLED display at FPD 2010 and Samsung has duly delivered. What’s less predictable about this yummy new hardware’s debut, however, is the fact that it was built right into a Galaxy Tab. Yes, our postulations that Samsung intends to spruce up its ” pocket-friendly ” slate with a 1200 x 600 resolution and an extra lick of hyper-advanced screen technology seem to have been spot on, as OLED-Display reports the device on show was indeed the company’s “next generation” Tab. We only wish there was more than just that one image — we’ll be hounding the internet for more, rest assured! Samsung 7-inch Super AMOLED panel showcased on ‘next gen’ Galaxy Tab originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Got yourself a big new Windows Phone 7 device and need something to fill its screen with? Sling Media has your back with its SlingPlayer Mobile app, which has hit the Marketplace just in time to earn its Launch App Partner achievement. Pricing for the software is set at $30 in the US, C$32 in Canada,
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RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie finally gave us a crucial bit of information about the BlackBerry Playbook this morning: price, or at least a threshold. According to a Korean interview, Balsillie said that RIM’s 7-inch tablet will be “very competitively priced” with Bloomberg quoting the man saying that it will be “under” $500 when it hits North America in the first quarter of 2011, expanding globally in Q2. A price that should at least match the 9.7-inch WiFi-only iPad (16GB) and undercut the 7-inch 3G Galaxy Tab which goes on sale on Verizon tomorrow for $599.99 . Thing is, by the time Q1 rolls around we’re going to be looking at many, many more viable tablet alternatives including a likely Apple refresh. BlackBerry PlayBook to cost ‘under’ $500 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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NEC first announced its super-thin Organic Radical Battery (or ORB) technology a full five years ago, but it’s now finally back with what it describes as the first “practical” prototypes of the batteries. While these new batteries are about twice as thick as NEC’s first such units, they’re still only 0.7 mm thin, and are apparently much more reliable while also delivering 1.4 times more output (specifically, a capacity of 5mAh). The key to that boost, it seems, are some newly developed, highly conductive cathodes, which consists of some solid organic radical material that were turned into a gel and then uniformly compounded with carbon materials. What does that mean for actual consumers? Well, if NEC has its way, the batteries could be a thin, flexible power source for things like smart cards, wearable devices, and flexible e-paper displays. Full press release is after the break. Continue reading NEC develops thin, flexible and ‘practical’ Organic Radical Battery NEC develops thin, flexible and ‘practical’ Organic Radical Battery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’ve always been fans of LaCie’s Starck Mobile Drive s, designed by the inimitable Phillip Starck , and now they’re getting a little speed boost, courtesy of USB 3.0 . The 500GB drive is still housed in the same “liquid metal trapped in a box” enclosure as the previous editions, and it comes bundled with 10GB of online storage at Wuala Online for $109 in the US and
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