For those that haven’t yet gone down the iFaithful portable media player route, there’s always the Walkman. Sony officially unveiled updates to its A, S and E series line of players just last month, and now plans to dole out a free trial of Music Unlimited to owners of the NWZ-A860, S760BT and E460 when they go on sale this September. The streaming service, formerly known as Qriocity, brings with it a catalog of over 10 million songs and will be available gratis for 180 days, after which it’ll run you $3.99/mo for basic service and $9.99/mo for the premium offering. It might be too late in the game for the company to wrestle back the portable audio crown but, hey, you can’t fault it for trying to sweeten the MP3-playing pot. Official PR awaits you after the break. Continue reading Sony’s new A, E, and S series Walkmans to get Music Unlimited freebie Sony’s new A, E, and S series Walkmans to get Music Unlimited freebie originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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This picture was taken in 1985 and despite the time that’s passed, the excitement I felt then holding that Atari joystick returns each and every time I plug in, boot up, or log on to find something new. Like so many other geeks of the era, the world of videogames found in reams of bootlegged games contained on Verbatim 5.25-inch floppies were early training in the value of knowing my way around computers. The initial desire to play The Last Starfighter / Solaris without needing anyone to set it up for me would years later lead to long sessions of editing .bat and .ini files to hear sound effects in Wolfenstein 3D and after that, easy work setting up and fixing computers. Still, as great as using technology is, it’s nothing without spirited discussions amongst like-minded individuals and after the schoolyard debates over 8-, 16- and 32-bit console wars ended (fortunately, Sega is out of the hardware game now or I would have to recuse myself from any news or reviews) I headed online to make myself heard. Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Richard Lawler Growing Up Geek: Richard Lawler originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The only way you missed Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc S at today’s IFA press conference , is if the slim handset happened to be turned sideways at the time. The 4.2-inch phone was the one of the bigger announcements at the event, sporting a 1.4GHz processor, an 8.1 megapixel camera, a Reality Display and the ability to convert 2D images into 3D. Like the new Walkman , however, Sony seemed largely interested in showing off the handset’s ability to transfer content onto its line of Bravia displays. Check out a brief hands-on video with the new Arc after the break. Gallery: Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S hands-on Continue reading Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S hands-on (video) Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Safety officials say that hundreds of deaths in airline crashes over the past five years are attributable to pilots who have become too dependent on computerized fight controls, forgetting how to react in certain situations. Although fatal airline accidents have decreased dramatically over the past 10 years, the International Air Transport Association reports that some
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Google knows how valuable our service men and women are, and how hard it is to be away from home on long tours of duty. The company is giving back where it can, by offering free calls within Gmail to the states for people with a valid .mil email address. It might not seem like much, but you’d understand after getting your first cell phone bill with roaming charges from the eastern mountains of Afghanistan. To take advantage all you have to do is add your military address to your Google account and click a link in the verification email and you’re good to go. Google offers free calls home from Gmail for American military originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 16:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you’re a loyal citizen of the UK anxiously awaiting a Toshiba Thrive , your sleepless nights are nearly over. The less-than-slender tablet, rebranded as the AT100, will hit the United Kingdom on September 1st. Like its American cousin, it will ship with Android 3.1 and a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor — not to mention all those ports: full-size HDMI and USB, along with an SD slot. Of course, with those rumors of a thinner Toshiba tablet swirling around, you may want to hold off on buying. There’s no official word on pricing yet, though you won’t have to wait long to find out. Continue reading Toshiba Thrive to land in UK September 1st, now known as the AT100 Filed under: Tablet PCs Toshiba Thrive to land in UK September 1st, now known as the AT100 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The headline’s about all we know at the moment, but CNBC is now confidently reporting that Facebook is set to launch a music service of some sort on September 22nd, which conveniently lines up with the company’s F8 developer conference. Could that service also include a dash of Spotify ? Maybe some Vibes ? We’ll be there to find out. [Thanks, Adam] CNBC: Facebook to launch music service on September 22 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Skype outs Freetalk Connect-Me Home Phone Adapter, does VoIP for old fashioned handsets
August 31, 2011 No Comment
If you’re still sporting a landline as your main connection to the outside world, Skype’s now offering a more up-to-date way to use that dusty old handset. The VoIP platform has just introduced two new products that will bring Skype-specific internet calling to your home phone . Billed as a “hassle-free, plug-and-play solution” the Freetalk Connect-Me Home Phone Adapter connects to your landline and broadband allowing you to make free calls to other Skype users as well as plain old landlines and cellphones worldwide (for a price). If you like your home phone with a little extra corporate branding , the outfit’s also hooked up with GE to offer a Skype-approved cordless, simply referred to as The GE Digital Cordless Expandable Telephone with Skype, which offers free calling to Skype users as well as “low-cost” calls to your poor Skype-less contacts. The Home Phone Adapter comes with plans ranging from $39.99 to $59.99, while the Skype phone can be yours for between $69.99 and $89.99. Both are now available at the source link below, and full PR awaits you after the break. Continue reading Skype outs Freetalk Connect-Me Home Phone Adapter, does VoIP for old fashioned handsets Skype outs Freetalk Connect-Me Home Phone Adapter, does VoIP for old fashioned handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide ! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we’re getting our game on — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here ! Let’s be honest, balancing coursework with recreation is just as important as maintaining a balanced food diet — perhaps even more. After you spend countless hours hitting the books, cramming for tests, and writing papers, you’re just going to need something to turn your brain to mush. Don’t worry, we have just the thing: video games. It doesn’t matter how many midterms you have, we’re sure we can find something to help you slack off. Of course, it’s not going to be easy; you’ll have to wait until next semester (at least) to get your hands on the PlayStation Vita, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have options now. Jump past the break — we can probably help you find something to get you through mid-terms with your sanity intact. Don’t want to shell out cash to have fun this semester? Enter our back to school sweepstakes! Simply leave a comment below for a chance to win, and drop by our giveaway page for more details. Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2011: gaming Engadget’s back to school guide 2011: gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Since the death of Gears we’ve been, rather impatiently, awaiting the return of offline access to our Google apps. Well that day has finally come — provided you’re a Chrome fan. The fine folks out in Mountain View just unveiled a new app for their browser (which means it also works on Chome OS) called Offline Google Mail that will keep you connected to your all important messages even when you can’t get a connection. You’ll notice the app looks a heck of a lot like the web app for tablets, and that’s because that’s basically what it is. There are some differences — keyboard shortcuts work — but at it’s heart it’s the same HTML5 browser app mobile users have been enjoying for some time. To install the offline version you’ll have to uninstall the standard Gmail Chrome app, which is a little odd, but there’s nothing stopping you from typing Gmail.com in the address bar. Docs and Calendar are also going offline. Starting today they’ll be rolled out to users over the next week. To activate it you’ll have to look under settings for an offline tick box. For now Docs will be view only when offline, but Google promises editing is coming soon. Hit up the more coverage link to install Offline Gmail now. Gmail, Google Docs and Calendar finally regain offline access originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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