Yeah, we knew it was possible , but knowing and seeing are two very, very different animals. Just before closing the doors at Build 2011 , Microsoft’s Avi Ben-Menahem took the time to briefly showcase what would be possible with Xbox Live and Windows 8. It’s obviously in a very early state, but already we’re seeing signs of cross-platform multiplayer game support, and an (unsurprisingly) Metro-style universe supplanting the existing Games for Windows Live. We get the feeling that Microsoft’s thinking this one through; rather than just shoehorning a gaming element in, things like “cloud saves” and dedicated Music / Video panes will be around to enjoy. Moreover, participation in the Xbox Live development program will purportedly be free, and if Ben-Menahem has his way, this will bring “everything you know and love on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to Windows.” Bold . Peek the pair of videos just after the break. Continue reading Microsoft shows off Xbox Live on Windows 8 (video) Microsoft shows off Xbox Live on Windows 8 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Bose unveils SoundLink wireless mobile speaker, fancies up A2DP for a premium (hands-on)
September 15, 2011 No Comment
Ah, Bose — give it an audio product and it’ll be sure to add that seemingly unnecessary luxury feel, minus the hard hitting details. If you’ll recall, the Massachusetts-based company had quietly pushed some new ‘wares through the FCC this past week, but with not so much as a sliver of info. Today in the Big Apple, it finally let us in on one new item, the SoundLink wireless mobile speaker. Priced at $300 and up, this unit is a “portable” A2DP Bluetooth speaker weighing in at around three pounds with less than two-inches of depth — basically, it’s massive against similar speakers like the Jawbone Jambox or foxL v2 . We had the opportunity today to spend a few minutes with this opulent gizmo, and you’ll find all the details just past the break. Gallery: Bose SoundLink wireless mobile speaker hands-on Continue reading Bose unveils SoundLink wireless mobile speaker, fancies up A2DP for a premium (hands-on) Bose unveils SoundLink wireless mobile speaker, fancies up A2DP for a premium (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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These are not the changes you’re looking for. This Friday sees the latest money-making attempt release by George Lucas of his Star Wars movies on Blu-ray. If NewsFeed were to discuss the matter with the esteemed director, he would no doubt inform us that he was simply honing his legendary set of six films, making
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That Google+ would eventually score an API was a forgone conclusion. And, while things have been far from quiet , we haven’t heard much about Moutain View’s plans to open up its social network to third-party access. Well, the first API is finally here and, while it doesn’t offer much in the way of interactivity (simply read access to public data), this is only the beginning. Check out the source links for more details and some sample code. Google+ finally gets an API, doesn’t do much yet originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Canon plans Hollywood event, ready to roll out the red carpet on November 3rd
September 15, 2011 No Comment
Oh, what’s this, Canon ? You want your turn in the spotlight as well? Well, we suppose a hint of an announcement is better than a non-announcement , so bring it on! The imaging company just sent us word of a presumably star-studded SoCal event on November 3rd, giving its cameras a chance to walk the red carpet in a rather surprising Hollywood role reversal. We’re not sure exactly what Canon plans to unveil that night — a new mirrorless camera , or perhaps some fancy pants camcorder, destined for Hollywood’s elite? But assuming the company isn’t crying wolf, we’ll be there with a live report from the red carpet. Canon plans Hollywood event, ready to roll out the red carpet on November 3rd originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …RIM’s Q2 earnings report: $329 million in net income, not enough to fend off critics
September 15, 2011 No Comment
The first quarterly earnings report post- Wake Up Call have just been published for Canada’s own Research in Motion, and while the cash is still flowing, investors and analysts alike aren’t feeling too rosy about the future . Despite Q2 revenue of $4.2 billion and a GAAP net income of $329 million, RIM’s stock plummeted nine percent following the news. Why? That reality was at the lowest end of estimates, and as we’ve seen, it takes a blowout quarter to please the folks on Wall Street. Nevertheless, the company’s touting a subscriber base that ballooned 40 percent year-over-year (surpassing 70m total), and while it’s quick to trumpet the rollout of seven new smartphones, not a one of them managed to astound the QNX-desiring critics . The report also notes that 10.6 million handsets were moved in the quarter, around $780 million was invested as “part of a consortium of companies that successfully bid to acquire intellectual property assets from Nortel,” and it’s forecasting that BlackBerry smartphone shipments in Q3 will grow between 27 percent and 37 percent compared to Q2. Sadly, the company only “shipped” 200,000 PlayBook tablets, with the prevailing thought being that it actually sold far fewer. Moreover, nary a forecast was given for future PlayBook sales. As for thoughts from the head honcho(s)? Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO, stated that “overall unit shipments in the quarter were slightly below our forecast due to lower than expected demand for older models,” further noting that his firm will “continue to build on the success of the BlackBerry 7 launch to drive the business as we focus our development efforts on delivering the next generation, QNX -based mobile platform next year.” Next year is a long, long way away, though, and there’s no doubt whatsoever what kind of competition will be in place by the time 2012 rolls around. We’ll be hopping on the analyst call here in a few, and you can look beyond the break for any notable mentions. RIM’s Q2 earnings report: $329 million in net income, not enough to fend off critics originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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AT&T took to the stage to announce its LTE network will go live on Sunday , which means today’s the perfect day for its fiercest rival to one-up the news. Verizon’s director of network technology Praveen Atreya, dropped the rather unsurprising news that the next natural step in the company’s data evolution chain will be LTE-Advanced. Don’t get your hopes up so fast, though: Atreya says it’s still too early in the game to test the new tech or figure out its potential speeds (spoiler: they’ll be disgustingly fast ), so we’re likely not going to see any widescale deployment for at least the next few years. Still, we’re always looking forward to the next best thing, so learning that Big Red is following Clearwire’s lead in adopting the technology is reassuring, to say the least. Shocker: Verizon director admits to LTE-Advanced future originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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What can we say — this retailer’s got some ambition. Phones 4U scored a few sweet deals with HTC, announcing that it’ll be the exclusive launch partner for the Sensation XE as it becomes available on October 1st (although O2 confirmed today that it’ll come its way “soon”). This is the first we’ve heard of an official release date for the Beats-integrated device, and we’re still unsure of pricing or availability for any other nook of the world. The retailer’s also geared up and ready to sell both the HTC Radar and original Sensation in white, also as UK exclusives; it appears as though it’s getting quite cozy with the Taiwanese company, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these kinds of deals going forward. HTC Sensation XE heads to UK October 1st, white HTC Radar inbound too originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …What can we say — this retailer’s got some ambition. Phones 4U scored a few sweet deals with HTC, announcing that it’ll be the exclusive launch partner for the Sensation XE as it becomes available on October 1st (although O2 confirmed today that it’ll come its way “soon”). This is the first we’ve heard of an official release date for the Beats-integrated device, and we’re still unsure of pricing or availability for any other nook of the world. The retailer’s also geared up and ready to sell both the HTC Radar and original Sensation in white, also as UK exclusives; it appears as though it’s getting quite cozy with the Taiwanese company, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see more of these kinds of deals going forward. HTC Sensation XE heads to UK October 1st, white HTC Radar inbound too originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Intel reveals ‘Claremont’ Near Threshold Voltage Processor, other conceptual awesomeness at IDF (video)
September 15, 2011 No Comment
Thought Intel was done busting out new slabs of The Future at IDF ? Wrong. Justin Rattner, the firm’s chief technology officer, just took the stage here in San Francisco in order to showcase a trifecta of new concepts, all of which were borne out of research in Intel Labs. The first, and perhaps most notable, is the Near Threshold Voltage Processor (code-named “Claremont”), which relies on novel, ultra-low voltage circuits that dramatically reduce energy consumption — like EnerJ , but not. How so? Well, by “operating close to threshold, or turn-on voltage, of the transistors,” it’s able to scream when needed or scale back dramatically (below ten milliwatts) when the workload is light. If you’re curious as to just how low that is, we’re told that it’s low enough to keep running while powered only by a solar cell the size of a postage stamp. Sadly, the research chip isn’t destined to become a product itself, but Intel’s hoping that the knowledge gained could lead to “integration of scalable near-threshold voltage circuits across a wide range of future products, reducing power consumption by five-fold or more and extending always-on capability to a wider range of computing devices.” As for demos? A smattering of multicore / multiprocessor sessions aided Intel in upping its bragging rights, and we were informed that coding for multicore setups is “easier than the press makes out to be.” The outfit also took the opportunity to release a Parallel JS engine to the open source crowd, adding data-parallel capabilities to JavaScript to purportedly “speed up browser-based services such as computer vision, cryptography, and 3D games by up to eight-fold.” Furthermore, a newly revealed Hybrid Memory Cube — complete with seven times better energy efficiency than today’s DDR3 memory — was also unwrapped. More details can be found in the links below, and we’ve got your unveiling video embedded just beyond the break. Gallery: Intel reveals Near Threshold Voltage Processor, other conceptual awesomeness at IDF (video) Continue reading Intel reveals ‘Claremont’ Near Threshold Voltage Processor, other conceptual awesomeness at IDF (video) Intel reveals ‘Claremont’ Near Threshold Voltage Processor, other conceptual awesomeness at IDF (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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