Another mishmash of schedules along with a sense of urgency to rant the afternoon away have combined midweek, and the result is a quickie Apple Edition of Engadget Mobile Podcast. Yes, some big news came our way yesterday and we have something to say about it. Get prepared for a lot of Apple talk, everyone; we’ll try to open up some time to have some dessert after our fruit, though, if you catch our drift. Anyways, we hope you can join Myriam Joire and Brad Molen in our emergency edition of the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET (2PM PT, 9PM GT)! Continue reading The Engadget Mobile Podcast, Apple Edition, live at 5PM ET! The Engadget Mobile Podcast, Apple Edition, live at 5PM ET! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Originally scheduled for a September launch under the VersaPro type VT moniker, NEC’s LaVie Touch Windows 7 tablet is finally hitting the Japanese market next week. Alas, there are still no plans on an international release for this 10.1-inch Atom Z670 -powered device, but at CEATEC we were lucky enough to stumble upon it along with its DVD dock and wireless input peripherals — all included for
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Needless to say, opinions of Cupertino’s latest product have poured down on the internet like acid rain. Tim Cook’s inaugural turn behind the wheel came with the awesome responsibility of unveiling the iPhone 4S , Apple’s first addition to the iPhone family tree in 16 months. The good news: the 4S received a healthy upgrade in CPU and camera, threw in Siri voice recognition and added Sprint to its growing list of supporters in the US. The unsettling news (for many, anyways): it’s basically an iPhone 4 with new internal parts — there was no change in design or screen size, no LTE to flaunt, no iPhone 5 to accompany it. Naturally, expectations were incredibly high prior to the keynote, so we’re anxious to find out how you feel about the outcome. Do you feel the design is still current? Are you relieved to see it available on Sprint? Were you hoping for a larger Retina Display? Rise up to the occasion and let us know — is the iPhone 4S going to be your next handset purchase? Sound off after the break. Continue reading Poll: Will you be getting an iPhone 4S? Poll: Will you be getting an iPhone 4S? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Soon, Xbox Companion will let you control your console from Windows Phone
October 5, 2011 No Comment
We just reported that Microsoft is partnering with Verizon and Comcast (among others) to continue expanding the reaches of its Xbox 360 entertainment suite, but would it be complete without adding compatibility to its mobile empire as well? The Windows Phone Team says nay; it spoke up this morning about an upcoming app called Xbox Companion, which will access the Xbox Live Marketplace and also act as a remote, allowing you to navigate your console or control video playback directly from your handset. You can call it laziness or convenience — or both — but either way, it’s still going to be a clever new addition to the Marketplace. The app’s currently in beta and will be available as a free download “soon.” For a peek, check out the video below at around the one-minute mark. Continue reading Soon, Xbox Companion will let you control your console from Windows Phone Soon, Xbox Companion will let you control your console from Windows Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Japanese mobile users hankering after short bursts of original video will soon gain access to Nottv, a platform designed to capitalize on the nation’s love of smartphones as well as its now empty analog TV frequencies. The service is different to Japan’s other smartphone-TV network, One-Seg , which just relays terrestrial broadcasts to your mobile device — not least because it lets you share snarky ripostes after watching a clip. It’s backed by the country’s major channels as well as NTT DoCoMo and it just needs the heavy rubber stamp of governmental approval before you can start hunting down condensed editions of Takeshi’s Castle from April 2012. It’s not TV: it’s Nottv, Japan’s new Smartphone-only TV station originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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What’s that, you’re not into changing the channel with that boring old remote, or even with your voice ? Murata’s ground-up Tactile Controller brings a real twist to every couch potato’s favorite gadget. Quite literally. The company’s prototype remote uses touch-pressure pads and pyroelectricity to analyze the position of a piezoelectric film. In English: a plastic film produces tiny amounts of electricity at various voltages (output as data) when it’s forced into a variety of positions, letting you change the channel simply by twisting the controller in either direction, or flexing to adjust volume. The model we saw was a plastic sandwich of sorts, and also included four solar cells, capable of producing one milliwatt of electricity — just enough to power the device. We put the controller through its paces at the company’s CEATEC booth, adjusting a TV’s volume and channel up and down, and, well, up and down, since that’s just about all you can do with the thing. The model we saw only supported five twist positions and four bending positions in each direction, so it could theoretically adjust those two basic settings more quickly based on how much pressure you put on the film, but realistically can’t do much beyond that. The Tactile Controller on display here is more of a proof of concept of sorts — with the concept being the plastic film technology itself, and not the battery-free remote control, which the company decided would be the most visual application for testing its new film, though not necessarily the most practical. Understandably, Murata doesn’t have any plans to release the remote that we saw today, but you can jump past this to see us do the twist . Gallery: Murata Tactile Controller hands-on Continue reading Murata Tactile Controller TV remote hands-on (video) Murata Tactile Controller TV remote hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If the name Cyberdyne doesn’t immediately ring a bell, its HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb) robotic suit sure will. Here at CEATEC , we bumped into these folks who kindly offered to strap us onto their latest prototype arm — a slightly smaller variant of the one installed on Cyberdyne’s current suit. Most of the HAL’s main part was strapped to the outer side of our upper arm with velcro, while our wrist was tied to the much smaller extendable piece; both parts were hinged together with a power unit. Additionally, a sensory pad was applied onto our forearm’s medial cutaneous nerve (around the elbow area) to pick up our muscular nerve signal — similarly, Cyberdyne’s lower-body exosuit requires two sensors on each leg. Our HAL was energized as soon as we tensed our arm muscles, so lifting up the tray of four 1.5kg water bottles was a piece of cake consistently throughout the demo — we even managed it with just our pinky (see video above)! And as soon as Cyberdyne’s lovely assistant Fumi turned the dial down, our superhuman powers were instantly taken away. We weren’t given any dates or specs for this piece of kit, but if all goes well, we may well see a brand new full-body suit at CES 2012 in January, so stay tuned. Oh, and can someone please get Cyberdyne some WD-40? Zach Honig contributed to this report. Gallery: Cyberdyne Robotic Arm hands-on Cyberdyne HAL robotic arm hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Sure, we may not see flying cars in our lifetime, but a mainstream digital dash is a definite possibility. The all-glass vehicle dashboard has been conceptualized by other manufacturers in the past, but this year it’s Panasonic’s turn to try its hand at building a multi-display system. The electronics maker brought its Cockpit prototype to the CEATEC floor, causing quite a stir among passersby. The dash itself was little more than a semi-functional mockup, presenting recorded rendered video on the main 20-inch LCD and dual 10.4-inch secondary displays. The main display’s current objective appears to be improving safety, using a series of cameras to eliminate blind spots and alert drivers to other road hazards. Real-time driving stats are displayed atop a video feed, either from the rear camera (when in reverse), or one up front. We spent a few minutes behind the wheel of Panasonic’s mockup, which consisted only of a pair of (rather comfortable) leather seats, along with a trio of LCDs, which the company claims are currently based on panels used in other Panasonic products, but may eventually utilize custom displays. This wasn’t an actual vehicle prototype — only the “cockpit” was on hand. The main display will (hopefully) focus the driver’s attention away from distractions on those two smaller screens — the one in the center can be used to control standard vehicle settings like climate and entertainment, while a second display positioned directly in front of the passenger seat can play movies and other content. Are we there yet? No, so you better get comfortable for the long drive ahead. Overall the setup looked like it could have potential, though Panasonic warned us not to expect anything final until the end of the decade (2018 at the earliest). Jump past the break for a Cockpit drive-by. Gallery: Panasonic Cockpit LCD Dash hands-on Continue reading Panasonic Cockpit digital dash prototype hands-on (video) Panasonic Cockpit digital dash prototype hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Gingerbread has apparently made a substantial mark on Android users, with new figures showing it holds a 38.2 percent share of all Google OS-powered devices. That’s some kind of growth from the one percent sliver it held earlier this year . Froyo still remains dominant at 45.3 percent, but fragmentation continues to shrink, with 95.7 percent of all Google-coated devices now running Android 2.1 or above. These figures, taken from Android Market statistics over the last two weeks, give a pretty good illustration of the gulf between Android smartphone and tablets, as well, with Honeycomb versions accounting for a meager 1.8 percent. But the tablet version will likely get a boost from Ice Cream Sandwich — which, as we all know, is just around the corner . Android Gingerbread has growth spurt, grabs 38.2 percent device share originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There’s still no indication that it’ll hit the North American market, but it looks like Kia will soon have an all-electric “minicar” to call its own. That will come in the form of a re-badged Hyundai i10 (pictured above), which is expected to pack a 16-kWh lithium-ion battery and a range somewhere south of a hundred miles. No word on pricing just yet either, but the car is set to roll out in late 2011, with production tapped at a modest 2,000 units for 2012. Kia to roll out re-badged Hyundai electric minicar in late 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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