Pocketbook spills the transflective colored beans, announces Mirasol e-reader for CES this year
November 24, 2010 No Comment
Details are about as scant as can be, and The Digital Reader claims the entire announcement was a mistake, but PocketBook USA just outed what could be the very first Mirasol e-reader in a CES 2011 press release. In addition to the newish PocketBook Pro e-readers spotted at IFA 2010 , the company will apparently showcase a brand-new model with one of Qualcomm’s transflective color screens, and to commemorate the long-awaited occasion it’s tentatively christening the reader “Mirasol,” too. Early whispers suggest the device cost a bundle and won’t have a fast enough refresh rate (12fps) for video speeds, but we’ll find out the truth of the matter come the first week of January. PR after the break. Continue reading Pocketbook spills the transflective colored beans, announces Mirasol e-reader for CES this year Pocketbook spills the transflective colored beans, announces Mirasol e-reader for CES this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Hey look, a chart with the iPad on top. Aren’t statistics fun? And yet, this chart may not mean quite what you think it does. The Nielsen Company presented a cadre of individuals with a list of nice, shiny gadgets and let them cross off anything and everything they’d like to buy in the next six months, and 31 percent of kids 6-12 picked the iPad as one of them. That doesn’t mean these youngsters wanted the iPad any more than a game console, mind you, it just means more of them picked the tablet than any other single game console on the list. Also, it turns out that the iPad was the only tablet PC available, so it could well ave served as a proxy vote for other slates — Galaxy Tab , anyone? The survey results also don’t factor in ownership, so if the Xbox 360′s low on the buy list, it could be because respondents already have one … but we suppose this is the definitive proof we’ve been searching for that e-readers are on the outs in the 12-and-under crowd. Jeff Bezos is crying over his evening oatmeal right now. After the break, see what the same chart looks like for teenagers and adults. (Hint: they aren’t all that hot on handhelds.) Continue reading Nielsen: 31 percent of kids want an iPad, other stuff Nielsen: 31 percent of kids want an iPad, other stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …60 year-old remote-controlled robot made from scrap parts makes a dramatic, beautiful comeback
November 24, 2010 No Comment
This is George. He’s a six-foot tall robot handmade from the aluminum scraps of a crashed bomber in 1950. George is remote controlled, and was built by Tony Sale, the same man who recently resurrected the nearly forgotten robotic darling from the storage shed where he’s spent the last 45 years or so. Some oil and batteries were all it took to get George up and walking again, and he’ll now have a permanent home at the National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, England. And that’s the next museum we’ll be visiting, because we cannot get enough of this giant. Tear-inducing video is after the break. [Image Credit: Geoff Robinson, Daily Mail ] Continue reading 60 year-old remote-controlled robot made from scrap parts makes a dramatic, beautiful comeback 60 year-old remote-controlled robot made from scrap parts makes a dramatic, beautiful comeback originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com . Whoulda thunk that the third time we’d see the BlackBerry PlayBook on video, it’d be in the hands of cube-headed dopplegangster Will.I.Shill? Not us, but we’re terribly excited to see the 7-inch tablet show off its augmented reality chops in the Black Eyed Peas’ latest music video. We’re not really sure what alternate reality hijinks turned the musicians into 8-bit portraits nor pixelated their world, but the BEP sure look adorable as Xbox LIVE-friendly avatars. Watch it after the break, or skip to 2:12, 3:16 and 3:54 if you just want to get your tablet on. [Thanks, Jamesy] Continue reading Screen Grabs: BlackBerry Eyed PlayBooks (video) Screen Grabs: BlackBerry Eyed PlayBooks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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T-Mobile’s got an American lock on the Bold 9780 at the moment, but you know how it goes with BlackBerrys: they tend to go pretty much everywhere ( Storm and Torch notably excepted) if you give ‘em enough time. Sure enough, an AT&T-branded version just popped up… and if you’ve got $899 lying around and an undying love for unreleased RIM gear, it can be yours. The phone’s chilling on eBay right now with a prominent AT&T logo silkscreened at the bottom; obviously, it stands to reason these guys would want to replace their Bold 9700 before too long, so we’re not surprised to see it go down like this. Want a white version, though? Well, you’ll just have to wait for that. AT&T-branded BlackBerry Bold 9780 spotted by way of eBay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HTC and Samsung license entire Intellectual Ventures patent portfolio, gear up for war
November 23, 2010 No Comment
Looks like HTC and Samsung are taking some aggressive steps to protect themselves from Android patent litigation — in the past week both companies have entered into long-term patent licensing agreements with Nathan Myhrvold’s Intellectual Ventures. (Mhyrvold was once Microsoft’s chief technology officer, but he’s arguably more famous for Intellectual Ventures.) Both HTC and Samsung now have access to IV’s entire portfolio of “more than 30,000 IP assets” to wield against current or potential legal opponents — like, say, Apple or Oracle — and IV also plans to help them manage their existing patent portfolios. It sounds to us like HTC and Samsung decided that they needed more patent muscle in order to survive in the now crazy-litigious smartphone market, and indeed, the PR announcing the HTC deal flatly says the smartphone maker is “working with IV to mitigate its patent risk.” Of course, this is also a bit of a deal with the devil — Intellectual Ventures might be the most infamous patent troll in history, and HTC and Samsung have essentially decided the risks and cost of doing business with IV are more favorable than the risks and cost of going to court. Either way, we’ll see how this all shakes out — and we’ve got a feeling that the Apple / HTC lawsuit is about to get seriously interesting. HTC and Samsung license entire Intellectual Ventures patent portfolio, gear up for war originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 19:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …RIM: Kik was pulled from App World over ‘breached contractual obligations’
November 23, 2010 No CommentLooks like RIM has made a final decision on the Kik situation after having pulled the wildly popular upstart instant messaging app from the BlackBerry App World a few days ago — and for current and hopeful Kik users, the news isn’t good (bold added by us): “RIM became aware of a number of issues and customer concerns regarding the Kik app and service. Following discussions with Kik, the app was removed from BlackBerry App World on November 12. Upon further investigation, RIM concluded that Kik had breached contractual obligations. Based on the broad scope and seriousness of the issues and concerns, RIM terminated its agreements with Kik and withdrew RIM’s support for Kik’s service. ” Now, Waterloo is still being pretty coy about what exactly Kik did to rock the boat so badly, but there are two obvious theories floating around: one, that Kik’s contact harvesting was a big privacy no-no; and two, that the product came a little too close to BBM’s functionality for RIM’s comfort. Hard to say what went down, and Kik’s official response doesn’t do much to clear up the situation. Though the company has thrown up a public response on its blog, it doesn’t clarify what transpired, what “contractual obligations” were allegedly breached, or what (if anything) Kik might do to attempt to smooth over the spat. Instead, the post is more of a PR play, praising the relationship Kik’s had with RIM in the past and saying it doubts rumors that BBM envy could account for the pull. It does say, however, that RIM has fully revoked Kik’s access to push notifications and the BlackBerry SDK, so it’s going to be tough for these guys to stay relevant on Bolds and Curves across the land unless RIM reverses its decision. RIM: Kik was pulled from App World over ‘breached contractual obligations’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Gibson sues WowWee, retailers over Paper Jamz toy guitars; would rather some other company get all that free advertising (video)
November 23, 2010 No Comment
It looks like WowWee is learning the implications of that old saw, “imitation is the surest way to get your company sued.” That’s right, the company’s radical looking, fun for about twenty minutes, paper-thin plastic toy guitars have recently drawn legal fire from Gibson, who recognizes a distinct resemblance between some classic axes (like the Flying V and the Les Paul) and the aforementioned Paper Jamz line. Which we could certainly see — even if WowWee hadn’t name dropped Gibson in its product literature (which seems to us to be rather on par with taunting the company outright). And if that weren’t bad enough, the company is going after retailers, such as Toys ‘R Us and eBay, who it claimed kept selling the things after receiving a cease and desist letter. Of course, this raises a few questions: At which point is a design so ubiquitous that it becomes fair game for companies like WowWee? And wouldn’t Gibson want the kiddies (who will be ready to move up to real guitars soon enough) hooked on their brand? And most importantly — when are we getting a Paper Jamz Rickenbacker? Because there has to be an easier way to be like Paul Weller. Commercial after the break (it adds nothing to the post, but it’s kind of a laugh). Continue reading Gibson sues WowWee, retailers over Paper Jamz toy guitars; would rather some other company get all that free advertising (video) Gibson sues WowWee, retailers over Paper Jamz toy guitars; would rather some other company get all that free advertising (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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More 3D choices for your 3D lifestyle. Acer is launching a pair of products that’ll give you another excuse to wear fancy active-shutter glasses at all times, starting with the HS244HQ, a 1080p monitor that measures 23.6-inches across, has the requisite 120Hz refresh rate and manages a 12,000,000:1 contrast ratio thanks to its LED backlighting. We’re also learning more about the AS5745DG laptop, a “high cost-performance model” 15.6-inch laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GT425M graphics, 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-460M processor, 4GB of RAM, 640GB of storage, and a 120Hz display with a pair of 3D Vision glasses to match. It’s a bit meatier than the company’s 5738DG from last year, and rather pricier too, with an MSRP set to fall just under 100,000 yen — about $1,200 when it ships next month. No word on the monitor’s cost yet, but don’t expect a bargain. Acer announces new 3D monitor, AS5745DG 3D laptop availability originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Snyderphonics Manta controller takes on Ableton Live, looks (and sounds) great doing it (video)
November 23, 2010 No Comment
We sure do love our obscure instruments here at Engadget. Even something as simple as the Monome , with its grid of 64 pads (and little else) can get the creative juices flowin’ when partnered with the right software. Well, we just received word that SevenUpLive, the driver that gets Monome to play nice with Ableton Live (via Max / MSP ), has just received support for Snyderphonics’ handsome Manta controller. What’s this all mean? Well, besides looking great, Manta features velocity sensitive plates and polyphonic aftertouch, which means a higher level of control than many of your boutique controllers. But you need a demonstration, right? Why didn’t you say so? Video after the break. Continue reading Snyderphonics Manta controller takes on Ableton Live, looks (and sounds) great doing it (video) Snyderphonics Manta controller takes on Ableton Live, looks (and sounds) great doing it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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