We’re still in a holding pattern waiting for the NFL regular season to start and fall TV shows to premiere but luckily college football is here to save the day. It’s not alone though, check out our highlighted picks of the week right here, followed after the break by our weekly listings of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames. College Football While the pros — a distinction that is getting fuzzier and fuzzier *cough* Miami *cough* — get ready for their season to start college football teams will be getting back to it this weekend. UNLV and Wisconsin have the first high profile matchup of the year on ESPN (and ESPN 3D) Thursday night while Oregon and LSU play Saturday in a game that could have National Championship implications right away. We’ll include some of the high profile national matchups on our schedule, but you can click here to find out where every nationally broadcast game will be on throughout the season — we know how tough tracking Middle Tennessee can be. The Hour BBC America will air the third of six episodes of this drama on Wednesday night as it takes us behind the scenes of a 1950s TV news show featuring The Wire’s Dominic West. While it’s a period piece with plenty of sex, sexism and whiskey if you’re looking for a Mad Men clone you’ll likely be disappointed. The short story arc doesn’t build Don Draper-like lead characters, but the Suez Crisis , spies and a suspicious death form a strong enough backdrop for us to sink our death into. If you’re a fan of British TV we’d rate this one below the excellent Luther , but well above Law & Order: UK — check out a trailer after the break. (August 31, BBC America, 10 PM) Madden NFL 12 It’s that time of year again, when Madden comes out and we resort to couch based battles of supremacy for bragging rights and more. As usual, not that much has changed from year to year, but there are updates including a new collision system that promises to improve tackling, custom playbooks and new camera angles cribbed from NFL Films archives. After generally positive reviews — it snagged a 3.5-star rating from our friends at Joystiq — we won’t stop you from laying down $60 one more time for EA’s annual refresh. ( $59.99 , August 30) Continue reading Must See HDTV (August 29th – September 4th) Must See HDTV (August 29th – September 4th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Sprint Strategy Update coming on October 7th, significant 4G plans likely to be unveiled
August 29, 2011 No Comment
Sprint’s Dan Hesse told us point-blank back in July that he was penning a “great story around 4G” for this fall, and it looks as if October 7th will be the date that it “all becomes clear.” We just received an invitation to quite the atypical event — a “strategy update” for the press to cover in New York City. All we’re told is that presentations by senior management will be on tap, with a sure-to-be-lively Q&A session to follow. ‘Course, this may all be a ploy to waste our precious time on a precious Friday in autumn, but something tells us Sprint ain’t exactly in a position to be blowing cash on a Hot Air session. So, what’s on deck? Let’s count the possibilities: more details on its side regarding the iPhone 5 ? A full-on acquisition of Clearwire (plus a shift to LTE-Advanced )? More details on that elusive LightSquared arrangement ? A merger with AT&T&T to create the largest telecommunications provider this side of Pluto? We’ll be there to find out, but for now, hypotheses are being accepted in comments below. Sprint Strategy Update coming on October 7th, significant 4G plans likely to be unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Klipsch intros Image S4A in-ears, lets Android users feel the in-line remote love
August 29, 2011 No Comment
There’s no question Klipsch’s S4 in-ear headphone line has some of the best to be had for under $100, yet aside from its iPhone-compatible S4i variant, mobile phone users wanting an in-line remote’s benefits were outta luck. Well, it looks like times are a-changin’ as an Android-oriented version of the noise-isolating buds, appropriately dubbed S4A, has popped up for pre-order on Klipsch’s site. The remote’s compatible down to Android 2.1 and appears to be slightly tweaked from the S4i with less buttons, but the specs say it’ll work for phone calls, music control and volume adjustment. To make this cake’s icing even richer, a Klipsch Control App will also allow for “customized functionality.” They’re priced at a cool Benjamin with no word on a ship date just yet, but you’ll find some robot-clad closeups in the gallery below. Gallery: Klipsch Image S4A in-ear headphones [Thanks, Bjorn and Jason] Klipsch intros Image S4A in-ears, lets Android users feel the in-line remote love originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The Razer-sharp “Switchblade” was first pulled on us at CES, and since then we’ve been prodded by a new product under the same sharp name from Evil Controllers and AbleGamers. Released as part of the “Adroit” line for gamers with disabilities, the 19-port controller comes standard with two joysticks and allows for personal positioning of sticks, buttons and rumble packs dependent on individual need. Originally designed for Xbox 360, it can be adapted for playing on PCs and PS3s, as well. Although there’s no official launch date or price, Thrifty Nerd says the device will set you back “a few hundred dollars” — probably a value compared to calling Hack-King Ben Heck . Switchblade Adroit controller for gamers with disabilities originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Flexible displays may well be the future, but it’s not hard to see that they won’t truly be practical unless they’re also as durable as they are flexible. Polymer Vision is well aware of that fact, of course, and it’s now gone to some “extreme” lengths to demonstrate the progress it’s made on that front. See the results for yourself in the video above. Polymer Vision drops the ball on its flexible display, literally originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Ever spent way too much on a luxury watch or handbag ? We hear ya — the Engadget closet is bulging with Balenciaga clutches we hardly ever take out any more. But do you know who we blame for these inexplicable lapses of consumer judgment? A professional photographer by the name of Mitchell Feinberg, who happens to own the world’s largest digital sensor. He uses the $500,000 custom-built 8×10-inch camera back to help capture mouthwatering advertising stills for couture clients like Bulgari and Vogue . What’s really loco, though, is that the sensor is only 10MP, which isn’t remotely sufficient for printable art. Instead, Feinberg puts it to work as a replacement for Polaroid; grabbing full-size test snaps during a shoot before reverting to an old-fashioned sheet of 8×10 film for the final money-shot. Whereas he previously spent $50k per year on Polaroid stock, now he spends nothing. So, unlike those silly blue-tinted Ray-Bans we bought for our vacation, this block of light-receptive love should eventually pay for itself. (Oh, and speaking of summer breaks, Feinberg says he’s currently away on his, but he promises to post some sample pics on his site when he returns.) Photographer goes digital, blows half a million dollars on a 10MP sensor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Welcome to Growing Up Geek , an ongoing feature where we take a look back at our youth and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. Today, we have our very own Senior Associate Editor, Richard Lai , who also happens to be the Editor-in-chief of Engadget Chinese . I’ve come to the point in life where I stop paying attention to my age, though it’s still fun to make people guess it for their reaction — you’ll find out after the break, but here’s a hint: I’ve spent the same number of years in both Hong Kong and the UK, plus a couple of years in Australia. Such a combination has turned me into a Chinese guy who speaks both British English and two Chinese dialects while holding an Australian passport; but I tend to skip all this and say that I’m a spy with many gadgets. Continue reading Growing Up Geek: Richard Lai Growing Up Geek: Richard Lai originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 22:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Enrolled in the iOS developer program and interested in iTunes Match ? Better point that browser towards Apple’s dev portal, as Cupertino’s just flipped the switch for its upcoming music laundering service . There you’ll find iTunes 10.5 beta 6.1 with iTunes Match which’ll let you sign up for a yearly $24.99 fee. Hopping on the bandwagon early has extra rewards too — early birds get three months (on top of their yearly sub) for free. A tipster also provided us with a screencap (after the break) of his iPod touch running the current iOS beta, which now magically has a toggle for the service under the Music section of the Settings app. Taking the plunge? Let us know how you fare in the comments. [Thanks, Matt] Continue reading iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Do you own a Boxee Box and have an account with a little streaming music service called MOG ? Well, soon enough you’ll be able to pick and choose from the company’s 11.5 million song strong library right on your TV. That’s 320kbps audio and album art in 1080p that you can peruse using your double-sided Boxee remote and a welcome expansion of the media box’s music repertoire — which currently includes Last.FM and Pandora . You can try MOG for 14-days for free, but after that you’ll have to sign up for either a $4.99-a-month basic account or a $9.99-per-month Primo account if you want to keep enjoying its streaming audio selection. Check out the PR after the break. Continue reading MOG brings its music streaming magic to Boxee MOG brings its music streaming magic to Boxee originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …BlackBerry Bold 9900 torn down, put back together for your amusement (video)
August 29, 2011 No Comment
Nothing like a little gadget carnage to get your week started off right. This week, DirectFix takes you on an eight-and-a-half minute journey inside a Rogers-branded version of the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 . The video is intended as an instructional guide on repairing the RIM smartphone at home, but should also provide vicarious thrills for the warrant-wary. Video of the process in action after the break. And if you do try this at home, here’s hoping you don’t wind up with any extra screws. Continue reading BlackBerry Bold 9900 torn down, put back together for your amusement (video) BlackBerry Bold 9900 torn down, put back together for your amusement (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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