Cowon’s capacious X7 media player gets the hands-on treatment, longs for WiFi
October 29, 2010 No Comment
Cowon’s X7 still hasn’t made its stateside debut , but apparently it’s out and about on the streets of France. This 4.3-inch, HDD-packin’ portable media player was recently caught in the wild by Le Journal du Geek , with early impressions noting that the UI is pleasant to use, the weight a bit heavy and the build quality something to admire. For those who’ve forgotten, it manages a 480 x 272 screen resolution, Bluetooth, TV-out, an inbuilt microphone and compatibility with nearly every file format ever conceived. Still, the omission of WiFi is a touch troubling in today’s world of converge-or-go-home, but it’s tough to argue with 120GB (€299; $414) or 160GB (€329; $455) of storage space. Hit that source link for lots more eye candy. Cowon’s capacious X7 media player gets the hands-on treatment, longs for WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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$599 is a bit pricey for a seven-inch tablet, and while you can get $200 off that at some places by signing your life away to a data contract, that really isn’t any fun either. Thankfully Samsung appears to have another option with what looks to be the $499, WiFi-only model that showed up in a Best Buy flier earlier this week . That version has now been cleared by the FCC, indeed with only tests for 802.11 and Bluetooth wireless. The absence of 3G looks like it will save you $100 and obviously make the device a little less flexible than its bar-bearing brethren, but whether that modified cost:inconvenience ratio works out in your favor depends largely on the value of your income:restlessness factor. WiFi-only Galaxy Tab stops by the FCC for tea originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Driverless electric van cruises 8,000 miles from Italy to China without stopping for directions
October 29, 2010 No Comment
They made it. The team from Visilab , which left way back in July , has arrived in China and will now take its place among the various other random things going on at the Shanghai World Expo. As you may or may not recall, a gaggle of autonomous orange EVs left Italy three months ago on a trip that would take them through cities like Moscow and wastelands like the Gobi Desert, all thanks to an array of laser scanners, cameras, and of course GPS. It was a 13,000km journey (8,078 miles) that was made with minimal driver intervention and, thanks to the EV-nature of the vehicles, without stopping once for gasoline — though they were limited to about four hours of travel each day before having to recharge. Now, remember when you were impressed that Google’s autonomous car managed about 1,000 miles on its own? Driverless electric van cruises 8,000 miles from Italy to China without stopping for directions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Acer Liquid Metal gets official in the UK with Android 2.2 and Breeze UI
October 29, 2010 No Comment
After seeing quite a few leaks , Acer just made its Liquid Metal handset official. The 3.6-inch slate runs Android 2.2 Froyo atop an 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor. Inside all that molten metal you’ll find 802.11n WiFi, support for 14.4Mbps HSDPA, DLNA/UPnP streaming support, Dolby Surround technology, and an image stabilized 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash capable of recording video at 720p (30fps). Acer’s new handset also features a new Breeze UI and SocialJogger app that aggregates Twitter and Facebook feeds. Look for it to land in brown in the UK starting mid November for
Continue reading …ASUS lays out Armdroid and Wintel tablet plans, we already feel overwhelmed
October 29, 2010 No Comment
Leave it to ASUS to blast out an entire series of tablets that saturate the market in a single go. Many of these have already been mentioned, leaked, or even revealed at trade shows. But now we’ve got company president, Jerry Shen, filling in the launch details. Starting in December, ASUS will begin launching tablets in 7-, 9-, 10-, and 12-inch form factors. The 12-inch model will run Windows on an Intel chipset and be ready for purchase in January. Of interest, Shen says that Microsoft assisted in the development by making several enhancements to related technologies including touch control and the user interface. In March ASUS will launch a pair of 7 inchers (one with WiFi and the other with “3.5G” and phone functions) and another pair of 9-inch tablets (an ARM-based Tegra 2 model running Android and another Wintel tablet) with a price gap of $100. Of course, we’ve see a 10-incher around as well. That means we should see a grand total of five or six tablets from ASUS at CES in January. Fun. ASUS lays out Armdroid and Wintel tablet plans, we already feel overwhelmed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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TeliaSonera subsidiary Ncell has just completed installation of a 3G base station at 5,200 meters (17,000 feet) that will reach the 8,848-meter peak of Mount Everest. Mind you, we’ve already seen a cellphone call made from the world’s highest peak using a temporary base station in a Motorola publicity stunt. This time, however, it’s permanent and faster allowing climbers to surf the internet or make 3G video calls. Why would Ncell want to build a base station in such a sparsely populated area? Because it is there. Mount Everest now wired for Internet, ready for Starbucks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle
October 29, 2010 No Comment
Can you remember the day when Apple’s audacious plan to sell 10 million iPhones in its first year was greeted with extreme skepticism within the cellphone industry. Now the computer company is shipping 14.1 million handsets every three months according to the latest IDC numbers, moving Apple into fourth place on its Top 5 list of mobile phone vendors worldwide. That moves Apple ahead of RIM thus confirming a Steve Jobs boast made during Apple’s Q4 earnings calls. Sony Ericsson has been pushed off the list for the first since 2004 when IDC began tracking the top 5 vendors. But that’s not the only interesting bit of information we see in the IDC numbers tallying all cellphone shipments, not just smartphones. Overall market leader Nokia, slipped from a 36.5 percent to a 32.4 percent market share since the same quarter last year. IDC notes that Nokia is starting to show some weakness in emerging markets, one of Nokia’s last strongholds, with smaller regional handset makers starting to grab market share away from Espoo in Asia/Pacific and Latin America. It’s not doing well in smartphones either, with IDC claiming that Android devices are gaining momentum at Nokia’s expense. LG is also suffering with a 10.1 percent decline in shipments since the same quarter last year, dropping from 10.6 percent to an 8.3 percent market share globally. Read the full report after the break. Continue reading IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle IDC: Apple passes RIM to become fourth largest mobile phone vendor globally as Nokia, LG, and Sony Ericsson struggle originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 04:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …LaCie slams 3TB drives into d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0, ups performance numbers
October 29, 2010 No Comment
Do you have The Need? For Speed ? Yeah, so do we, and it just so happens that LaCie does as well. Just weeks after the company properly introduced the ” now shipping ” status on its d2 USB 3.0 and 2big USB 3.0 drives, it has now expanded the options with a 6TB model. So far as we can tell, it looks as if the outfit placed a rather sizable order for those 3TB HDDs that were just unleashed by Western Digital, and it has tuned up the performance all the while. The 2big has reached 306MB/sec in the lab, representing a 20 percent speed boost over the prior models while making it “the fastest 2-bay RAID solution on the market.” As for the d2? It can hum along at 156MB/sec with the inclusion of a 3TB hard drive. Both units are slated to hit retail next month, but asking prices are being kept under wraps for now. Continue reading LaCie slams 3TB drives into d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0, ups performance numbers LaCie slams 3TB drives into d2 USB 3.0 and LaCie 2big USB 3.0, ups performance numbers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 02:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We thought the Samsung Focus was the only Windows Phone 7 launch device that could replace its external storage, but the HTC HD7 can apparently do the same — there’s an SD card slot under that Windows Phone logo , and The Unwired managed to replace it while dodging the dreaded “There’s a storage error” screen. What sort of black magic did the publication cast to make it recognize the new card? They’re not quite sure themselves, but several factory resets and physical reinsertion of the chip seemed to do the trick, if only for an 8GB card. If you’re in a daring mood, let us know if it works for you in comments below! HTC HD7 has hidden microSD slot, user-replacable card? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Oct 2010 00:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Brandon, who is fairly interested in ditching his cable subscription. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com . “Hey Engadget readership. I’ve been paying way too much for channels I never watch for way too long. I’m about ready to seriously consider my options for ditching cable. Problem is, I’ve got too many alternatives. Google TV, Apple TV and Roku stick out, but I’ve also heard of using a new Mac Mini along with Boxee. Given that I have a Netflix subscription to loop in, which of these would be my most satisfying option? Or is there another I’m not considering? Thanks for the assistance.” We feel your pain. Loads of options, and not really one set-top that does it all. ‘Course, you could always whip up an HTPC to really cover your bases, but we’re sure you’ll get some fine input either way in comments below. Ask Engadget: Google TV, Apple TV, Roku, or something else? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Oct 2010 22:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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