Microsoft has taken care of a little bit of T-crossing and I-dotting this morning by updating its Zune desktop software to v4.7. The code should now be fully equipped to welcome incoming Windows Phones, and our tipster’s screenshot above seems to indicate the app marketplace will be up and running on time as well. There’s an additional note to say that app purchases will be accessible from up to five separate phones sharing the same Windows Live ID — clever Microsoft, encouraging people to buy in bulk. As to the Zune HD, we’re hearing there’s no firmware update at this time, it’s still on v4.5 . [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Gallery: Windows Phone 7 apps in Zune desktop software Zune software version 4.7 is now ready to receive your Windows Phone 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 04:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung unveils new 55-inch LCD with ultraslim bezel, invites DIY video walls
October 11, 2010 No Comment
Remember the world’s thinnest bezel separation touted by Sharp just this past June? Forget about it. Samsung has bested its Japanese competitor with the unveiling of a new 55-inch Digital Information Display panel that features bezels of 3.8mm on the top and left edges and 1.9mm on the bottom and right, leading to a positively svelte 5.7mm distance between the content of neighboring displays. That good stuff is augmented with Full HD resolution and a blinding 700 nits of brightness. There’ll also be a 46-inch model that offers a 7.6mm separation (hint: that’s still pretty damn thin), though we’ve yet to learn on when and where aspiring home cinema nuts might be able to obtain either screen. Continue reading Samsung unveils new 55-inch LCD with ultraslim bezel, invites DIY video walls Samsung unveils new 55-inch LCD with ultraslim bezel, invites DIY video walls originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Hate to point out the obvious, but that little critter you see above is fast . Like, record-breaking fast. Hitachi GST just announced that it’ll begin shipping this bantam speed demon today, offering enterprise customers a 2.5-inch HDD that spins at 10,000RPM and operates on a 6Gb/s SCSI SAS platform. The Ultrastar C10K600 is available in 300GB, 450GB and 600GB flavors, and Hitachi claims that it can deliver “up to 15 percent better random and 18 percent faster sequential performance than competitive products on the market today.” Furthermore, these eat up some 65 percent less power than the company’s 3.5-inch enterprise drives, and also boast average seek times as low as 3.7 milliseconds. Mum’s the word on pricing, but chances are you won’t actually want to know; the full release is after the break. Continue reading Hitachi ships 10K RPM, 6Gbps Ultrastar C10K600 2.5-inch hard drive Hitachi ships 10K RPM, 6Gbps Ultrastar C10K600 2.5-inch hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’re always looking for ways to get one step closer to the content dream we just have to believe we are destined for — anything, anywhere, anytime — and a recent DirecTV survey about mobile viewing habits might be one of those things. To add to the clues, DirecTV recently trademarked the name mentioned in the survey, DirecTV Nomad, and has even gotten it UL certified with the model number MDR1R0-01. If you believe everything in the survey, you’ll believe that Nomad will let you consume DirecTV on your portable device while you travel from place to place. What isn’t clear is if this a streaming device like a Slingbox, or if you can copy the content onto your device and consume it on planes and trains, but with rumors just now surfacing, more than likely it’ll be months before we know for sure. DirecTV’s Nomad might satisfy our thirst for content on the go originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Modu reveals the T, a tiny modular Brewphone, keeps us waiting for the Android-based W
October 11, 2010 No Comment
Modu Mobile finally came clean about the T-phone today, but we’re afraid it’s bittersweet news — it’s not the lilliputan Android device we’ve been lusting after for months (that’s coming “in the near future”) but rather a Brew -based tri-band phone with a 2.2-inch QVGA touchscreen on the relatively old QSC6270 chipset. Thankfully, it does have a host of modular accessories that up its geek quotient radically. You can “camerafy” your Modu by sliding it into a 5 megapixel shell, “sportfy” it with an exercise armband sleeve, “boostify” by slotting it into a combo speaker dock / base station, or even “textify” by adding a vertical QWERTY keyboard. Considering the phone is apparently still Guinness-certified as the lightest touchscreen device in the world, we imagine these combinations will be similarly svelte, but we’ll still be waiting for the Android-infused Modu W to appear, thank you very much. PR after the break. Gallery: Modu T press shots Continue reading Modu reveals the T, a tiny modular Brewphone, keeps us waiting for the Android-based W Modu reveals the T, a tiny modular Brewphone, keeps us waiting for the Android-based W originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If down-to-the-cent leaked prices for Sony’s Google TVs sounded too good to be true, you might have been right — the publication that reported that the sets would range from $1,299 to $1,899 has now backed away from those figures. Sony Insider says that though its original prices seemed legit, the website’s spooks inside Sony now say they’ll actually cost less when they actually hit the market, though the screen sizes and model numbers were apparently right. We don’t really feel inclined to trust the new anonymous sources any more than the original anonymous sources, so we’ll just leave it at that — if they’re cheaper after all, we’ll celebrate, and if not we’ll be forewarned. Sony’s leaked Google TV prices were wrong, says alleged insider originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green. In case you missed it yesterday , the big green tech news of the week rolled in last night with the announcement of Google’s top-secret robot car project , which has been deploying and testing self-driving robot cars on the streets of California over the past several months! (Engadget covered it here ). It’s also been a big week in general for green transportation announcements, as several supercharged electric vehicles hit the streets last week: the Delorean EV took us back to the future and SiGNa Chemistry unveiled an electric bike that runs on water . Finally, from the realm of tomorrow we brought you the future of moving house: strapping your home to an enormous balloon and lifting off for the skies . This week solar power also lit up the newswires as President Obama announced plans to deck out the White House with photovoltaics this coming spring and scientists proclaimed that interstellar solar winds could provide 100 billion times the Earth’s energy needs . We were also wowed by a dog park powered by poo in Cambridge, and we can’t wait to get our hands on this new copper-covered Nokia phone that recharges its battery using body heat . Speaking of eco gadgetry, we also showcased a set of gorgeous wooden wristwatches , and the world’s first iPhone 4 cover made of plants . Green lighting was also a hot topic this week as scientists created a new type of glowing nano LED and we spotted an array of luminous lamps made from salt at the London Design Festival . We also learned how a wireless router scored a date for one lucky Inhabitat writer, and how Inhabitat editor Jill’s solar-powered backpack has been a real conversation starter . See, green gadgets can help you make friends and influence people! Inhabitat’s Week in Green: robot cars, solar winds and the DeLorean EV originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 launch event is tomorrow at 9:30AM ET, and we’ll be there live!
October 10, 2010 No CommentAs you may have heard , Microsoft is having a major event tomorrow in NYC to announce details surrounding Windows Phone 7 launch dates and devices… and Engadget is going to be there delivering the best live coverage in the universe. In case you don’t already know, Steve Ballmer and AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega will be on stage to delight your senses, and there will likely be lots of new hardware we’ll be getting our hands on. You can see all of the news unfold in realtime right here at our liveblog post , and the whole thing starts tomorrow, October 11th , at the times listed below. Don’t miss it! 03:30AM – Hawaii 06:30AM – Pacific 07:30AM – Mountain 08:30AM – Central 09:30AM – Eastern 02:30PM – London 03:30PM – Paris 05:30PM – Moscow 10:30PM – Tokyo Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 launch event is tomorrow at 9:30AM ET, and we’ll be there live! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On , a column about consumer technology. Remember those early wireless headsets, the ones that made people look like they had been assimilated by The Borg? Few would seek to return to those days for the benefit of bridging a handset and one’s ears. But what if one could also bridge a handset and one’s eyes? That’s essentially the promise of Looxcie , a Bluetoooth headset that integrates a video camera to enable passive video capture. Looxcie’s creators note that using the device requires less encumbrance than even a Flip camcorder. Still, there’s no getting around it — the Looxcie is no spy gadget. Accepting the state of the technology for what it is, the designers chose to embrace its size rather than try to minimize it. The protuberance that houses the boom mike and lens of the product swells toward an end that includes a red recording light. The extension in a glossy white, perhaps an homage to massive telephoto zoom lenses like those from Canon. Continue reading Switched On: A Looxcie into lifecasting’s future Switched On: A Looxcie into lifecasting’s future originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Pioneer’s prototype laser HUD could help you drive home, connected to an Android smartphone (video)
October 10, 2010 No CommentAnother year, another attempt to project light onto transparent screens , but Pioneer’s Network Vision HUD is one of the cooler prototype heads-up displays we’ve seen. First off, it uses lasers to generate its ethereal navigation images — lasers make everything better — and second, it’s presently sourcing that data from a Android smartphone, making it a fantastic potental addition to infotainment ideas like Nokia’s Terminal Mode . Pioneer told Network World that it’s planning to actually sell a version of the technology by 2012, but that it might be an aftermarket product rather than an integral part of your car’s windshield . They are, of course, entertaining deep-pocketed auto manufacturers as well. Continue reading Pioneer’s prototype laser HUD could help you drive home, connected to an Android smartphone (video) Pioneer’s prototype laser HUD could help you drive home, connected to an Android smartphone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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