Sony’s golden NINOKUNI ‘Magical Edition’ PlayStation 3 heads for Japan, Criss Angel’s mind
September 2, 2011 No Comment
Not that Sony’s PlayStation 3 hasn’t been touched by Midas before, but this is the first time we’ve seen the new(ish) form factor doused in such official fashion. Per usual, it’ll be the homeland that’s treated to the NINOKUNI Magical Edition PS3 console, a decidedly wizard-approved bundle that’ll include a copy of Ni No Kuni . The only edition available will boast a 160GB hard drive, a single Dual Shock controller and a glorious icon on the lower-left of the machine. It’ll be available in Japan this November for
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The Nokia 500 wasn’t the only fresh handset that popped up at the Vodafone booth here at IFA, this morning. We also managed to sneak in some time with the Optimus Sol . The device is reasonably slick for what the company appears to be framing as a relatively low-end phone. At its center is a bright, glossy 3.8-inch Super Amoled display. The Sol runs Android 2.3 with a single-core 1GHz processor — which the company points out should be fine for those not doing heavy duty work on the thing. It certainly handled what we could throw at it during our hands-on time. The handset is thin and is reasonably light, compared to the Optimus 2x , which aside from the large four-inch display, looks fairly similar. It should be coming very soon — some time later this month, most likely, for Vodafone users here in Germany. According to an LG representative, it should run roughly €300 off-contract. Gallery: Optimus Sol hands-on Filed under: Cellphones LG Optimus Sol hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 07:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you haven’t heard, Acer’s gone and ( officially ) jumped on the Ultrabook bandwagon, announcing the 13mm-thin Aspire S3. We’re here live at IFA in Berlin and just got some much-anticipated hands-on time. At the press conference that just wrapped, we were treated to a raft of promises — seven-hour battery life, 1.5 seconds to resume from sleep, two to connect to a wireless network and “no compromises” performance courtesy of ultra low voltage Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. So did our first impression come anywhere near matching the hype? Read on to find out. Gallery: Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on Continue reading Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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And the march of the Ultrabooks continues. Following on the heels of Toshiba and Lenovo , Acer just announced the Aspire S3 at its IFA press conference — confirming that unequivocal leak we spotted earlier a few days ago. The machine, made of magnesium-alloy, measures an anorexic 13mm thin and weights just 140kg. We’re told it promises not just instant on access, but near-instant connectivity — Acer says it will wake from sleep in 1.5 seconds and register and connect to hotspots in about two. Other specs include a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) display, ultra low voltage Core i3, i5 and i7 CPUs, a choice of solid-state storage or HDDs, Bluetooth 4.0 and a vent-free bottom so that you’re not left with first-degree burns. Depending on the configuration, the battery life is rated for up to seven hours or up to 50 days in sleep mode. So far we’re just hearing European pricing (€799 to €1,199), though Acer confirms it’ll arrive stateside by the end of September. Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 officially announced, starts at 799 euros originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you liked the look of Dell’s inch-thin XPS 15z but are of the mind that a 15-incher isn’t quite portable enough, listen up: here at its IFA press conference, the company just teased a 14-inch version — the XPS 14z, natch — which will be available “later this year.” From the looks of it, it has the same industrial design as its big brother (and, some might say, a generations-old MacBook Pro), which, depending on your point of view, is either a good or a bad thing. Gallery: Dell XPS 14z tease Dell teases XPS 14z, says it will be available ‘later this year’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Frogger Decades leaps into App Store, still going strong after 30 years of being hit by trucks
September 2, 2011 No Comment
My, how time flies. Can it really be 30 years since the original Frogger was released into arcades in 1981? To celebrate the anniversary, Konami has unleashed a new version of the game into the App Store known as Frogger Decades . Along with the familiar highway scenes, you’ll be treated to new environments such as swamps and islands, along with opportunities to solve puzzles along the way. A classic D-pad controller is built-in for those seeking a slice of nostalgia, but you’re also free to hop about using touch input on the screen. The game retails for $2 with versions for the iPhone and iPad, and it supports competitive play via the Open Feint network. We know what we’ll be doing tonight. Care to join us? Frogger Decades leaps into App Store, still going strong after 30 years of being hit by trucks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Scientist creating rain-making lasers, Weezy and Fat Joe await royalty checks
September 1, 2011 No Comment
We’ve heard of “making it rain,” but actually making it rain — with lasers, no less — now, that’s something to write home about. A team of researchers at the University of Geneva is coming ever closer to creating real-deal downpours by shooting beams from their Teramobile mobile femtosecond-Terawatt laser system into the sky above the Rhone River. While logging nearly 133 hours between the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010, the team observed that the beams actually triggered the creation of nitric acid particles, which bound water molecules together creating water droplets. Those droplets proved too small and light to actually be categorized as rain, but the discovery has apparently spurred the scientists on. Previous efforts to make it rain, known as seeding , have used rockets and jets to shoot silver iodide and dry ice into the sky. No word yet on when the scientists expect to successfully “wash the spider out.” Scientist creating rain-making lasers, Weezy and Fat Joe await royalty checks originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Electric cars are finally starting to make a dent in the market, but they’ve got a long way to go before you’ll find one in every driveway. Thankfully companies like Volvo and Siemens are working hard to improve EV technology and grant Mother Earth a bit of a reprieve from our pollutant-spewing rides. The two manufacturers are collaborating on vehicles equipped with electric drive motors, in particular Siemens’s C30 DRIVe. Tests will begin later this year, with 200 vehicles set to be delivered in late 2012 for evaluation under “real-life conditions.” Check out the PR after the break. Continue reading Volvo and Siemens team up to build better electric engines Volvo and Siemens team up to build better electric engines originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks get your little green robot bumpin’
September 1, 2011 No Comment
Philips’ line of smartphone-connected sound systems has been all up on iOS for quite sometime, but now Fidelio’s ready to show Android some love. The outfit just outed three new Android-ready speaker docks — the AS851, AS351 and AS111 — and is set to debut the flossy Fidelios at IFA this week. These new docks are so anxious to get close to your Android handset, that they’re rocking a micro-USB connector that adjusts in three dimensions to allow just about any phone to stand tall in portrait or kick back in landscape. Either way, the phone syncs the jams via Bluetooth and a dedicated app. The biggie of the bunch, the AS851, promises “lifelike, distortion-less music” and 30 watts of RMS power, while the smaller AS351 lets you take the show on the road with both AC and battery options and bumps 10 watts of RMS. The smallest of the three, the AS111, is dubbed as a bedside companion. There’s no word on pricing or when the docks will have your Android getting up with the get down , but we do have full PR for you after the break. Gallery: Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks Continue reading Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks get your little green robot bumpin’ Philips Fidelio for Android speaker docks get your little green robot bumpin’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 00:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HTC Runnymede 2 looks to lay down the law with 4.7" display and Beats audio
September 1, 2011 No Comment
Beginning today, when mobile enthusiasts think of Runnymede, it won’t be the Magna Carta that immediately comes to mind, but rather one of first phones to emerge from HTC’s collaboration with Beats. Unlike the rumored Sensation Special Edition 2 , the Runnymede 2 shares greater similarity with the Titan — the 4.7-inch beast with a single-core 1.5GHz CPU and 9.9mm profile — that was announced earlier today. Diverging from the Titan, however, the Runnymede 2 will be an Android handset with 768MB of RAM and an option for 32GB of built-in storage (along with the base level 16GB). Beats headphones are also rumored to be bundled with this bad boy, and HTC seems to take its imaging prowess very seriously with an 8 megapixel sensor and f2.2 lens that smacks heavily of the MyTouch 4G Slide . Of course, this all sounds very tempting, but it leaves us wondering what the hell happened to the Runnymede 1. Perhaps Mr. Chou decided this one was good enough to skip a generation? [Thanks, ZedeN] HTC Runnymede 2 looks to lay down the law with 4.7″ display and Beats audio originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 23:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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