Can’t say it happened at Mach 3, but the iPad 2 jailbreak that we saw teased back in mid-March seems to have made its way out into the wild at long last. According to the video hosted up just past the break, JailbreakMe 3.0 is now available with support for the iPad 2. It’s bruited that the version making its way around now was leaked by a beta tester, and we’re seeing mixed success / failure stories in the related YouTube comments. We’d encourage the daring to tap the links below in order to get started, and if you do, let us know how it all works out below. Per usual, you’d be doing yourself a solid by fully syncing and backing things up before diving off the deep end. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Continue reading iPad 2 jailbreak available now? (video) iPad 2 jailbreak available now? (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jul 2011 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Got mind control on the mind? Check out this new concept bike from Deeplocal — a Pittsburgh-based design house that’s adding a neurological twist to the art of cycling. As part of Toyota Prius Project No. 11, the company outfitted the seat post of a Parlee PXP aero road bike with a wireless transmitter, allowing users to remotely shift gears with a smartphone. Deeplocal’s designers then added a set of neuron transmitters to a helmet and re-programmed the PXP to communicate with them — meaning, in theory, that riders could control the bike’s gears by simply thinking about it. Theory, of course, isn’t the same thing as practice, but perhaps the concept will become a reality if we think really hard about it. Toyota Prius Project’s concept bike lets you shift gears with your mind originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 09:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Get up, wake up, wake up: it’s the first of the month, and it’s also a Friday, so gather the fam ’round the glowing laptop by the fireplace and fire up the 246th edition of this, the Engadget Podcast. Dana Wollman rolls with us this time around the week in tech, which featured a generous stacking-up-upon of the already gigantic pile of tablets we have lying around HQ. We also had a plus-sized shot from the dark out of Mountain View and a healthy smattering of statistics and other news-morsels we know you wanna hear about. It’s all here for you for free , so get at it! Host: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater Guests: Dana Wollman Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: A Hard Day’s Night 00:02:50 – HP TouchPad review 00:10:00 – HP confirms it’s in talks about licensing webOS, Samsung tipped as a possibility 00:13:46 – HP tempts webOS early adopters to buy a TouchPad with $50 rebate 00:21:30 – Google+ for Android app (hands-on) 00:21:50 – Google+ invite received, we go hands-on 00:30:09 – LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer tablet hands-on (video) 00:36:07 – Cisco Cius Android tablet hands-on (video) 00:39:39 – Congolese VMK Gingerbread tablet eager to show its face, shipping in September 00:43:26 – ThinkPad Tablet shown off with keyboard-laden folio cover, could ship within a month 00:45:30 – Andy Rubin: over 500,000 Android activations a day, and growing 00:48:00 – Windows Phone 7.5 Mango in-depth preview (video) 00:54:08 – HTC Status for AT&T announced on Facebook, risks being tagged in embarrassing pics 00:56:05 – CyanogenMod 7 on the Nook Color hands-on (video) 00:58:15 – Ubuntu demonstrated running on Galaxy Tab 10.1, summarily dubbed ‘Tabuntu’ (video) 00:58:46 – US Supreme Court strikes down California law, says video games are protected as free speech 01:00:20 – Listener questions Hear the podcast Subscribe to the podcast [ iTunes ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC). [ RSS MP3 ] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [ RSS AAC ] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator. [ Zune ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace Download the podcast LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast Send your questions to @tim_stevens . Leave us a voicemail: (423) 438-3005 (GADGET-3005) E-mail us: podcast at engadget dot com Twitter: @tim_stevens @bheater @danawollman Filed under: Podcasts Engadget Podcast 246 – 07.01.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
It looks like it’s time to kiss that sweet HOV goodbye for lone California hybrid drivers. No, there hasn’t been a spike in Clean Air Vehicle sticker thievery — this time it’s official. According to the California DMV, those little yellow stickers that once gave hybrid owners the right to ride solo in carpool lanes have expired, leaving some 85,000 drivers to fall in line with the rest of the state’s commuters. You’ll forgive us if we don’t shed a tear over this announcement. California carpool exemptions expire, quashing yellow-sticker envy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jul 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
25,000 apps ? Make it 25,001. The Engadget app for Windows Phone is here. Finally. Now your HD7 or Surround or Trophy or Omnia can get some native news in a format that’s so Metro it doesn’t even have a driver’s license. We know that it took awhile, but we needed it to be right, and now it is. On the app you can get all the posts from the main site as well as Mobile and HD , plus podcasts, videos, and all the content we pour our hearts in to every day, pushed right to your palm. If you have a Windows Phone device that can handle QR codes, there’s an image waiting for you after the break. Or, you’re welcome to click on the source link below, which should open the Zune app and make some magic happen. No Zune app installed? No magic, but maybe that just means you’d prefer our similarly enchanting iPad , iPhone , webOS , BlackBerry , or Android flavors? Continue reading The Engadget app for Windows Phone is here The Engadget app for Windows Phone is here originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Most tablets function just fine on their own, but RIM’s BlackBerry Playbook introduced a unique, yet restrictive interface that limits Bluetooth tethering to a similarly-branded handset. This feature, called BlackBerry Bridge , lets your tablet piggyback on a handset’s 3G data connection, also enabling access to productivity apps like email and calendar, which are still otherwise unavailable on the PlayBook. Unfortunately, this option hasn’t been made available for AT&T users, but that’s about to change, as the feature will be added to App World today . While the Bridge suite is totally gratis, enabling the AT&T 3G data connection requires a monthly tethering plan of $45, which means anyone grandfathered into the unlimited data feature will need to decide if it’s worth the jump. Bridge not sounding like your cup of tea? Don’t worry — at least you can take comfort in knowing that the days of pining for native email are numbered. AT&T to enable BlackBerry Bridge support before sundown originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
A computer solving a Rubik’s cube? P’shaw. Doing it in 10.69 seconds ? Been there, record set. But to crack one of any size? Color us impressed. Erik Demaine of MIT claims to have done just that — he and his team developed an algorithm that applies to cubes no matter how ambitious their dimensions. Pretty early on, he realized he needed to take a different angle than he would with a standard 3 x 3 x 3 puzzle, which other scientists have tackled by borrowing computers from Google to consider all 43 quintillion possible moves — a strategy known simply as “brute force.” As you can imagine, that’s not exactly a viable solution when you’re wrestling with an 11 x 11 x 11 cube. So Demaine and his fellow researchers settled on an approach that’s actually a riff on one commonly used by Rubik’s enthusiasts, who might attempt to move a square into its desired position while leaving the rest of the cube as unchanged as possible. That’s a tedious way to go, of course, so instead the team grouped several cubies that all needed to go in the same direction, a tactic that reduced the number of moves by a factor of log n , with n representing the length of any of the cube’s sides. Since moving individual cubies into an ideal spot requires a number of moves equal to n ², the final algorithm is n ²/log n . If we just lost you non-math majors with that formula, rest assured that the scientists expect folks won’t be able to apply it directly, per se, though they do say it could help cube-solvers sharpen their strategy. Other that, all you overachievers out there, you’re still on your own with that 20 x 20 x 20. Scientists develop algorithm to solve Rubik’s cubes of any size originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Kodak scored a small victory this week in its International Trade Commission (ITC) case against Apple and RIM for their devices’ infringement of Kodak’s patent on picture previews. Back in January, an ITC administrative law judge (ALJ) made an initial determination that the patent was invalid and that iPhones and Blackberrys don’t infringe Kodak’s IP. After reviewing the decision per the parties’ request, the Commission changed a few of the ALJ’s patent claim interpretations and remanded the case for fresh analysis regarding both infringement and validity. Kodak, naturally, is painting the remand as a victory, even going so far as issuing a celebratory press release. Such swagger seems a bit premature, however, as the judge could once again find in favor of the crowds from Cupertino and Waterloo. The next Kodak moment isn’t until August 30th, when the ALJ is due to render his ruling. Stay tuned. Brian Heater contributed to this post. Kodak granted reprieve in its ITC battle with Apple and RIM originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Jul 2011 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Can’t wait to get your hands on Vizio’s upcoming budget tablet ? Good news, beginning today, you can put your $400 where your mouth is, by pre-ordering the device straight from the company’s site, starting at 1:30PM ET. That amount will get you the Gingerbread tablet, along with a 16GB MicroSD card, and a folding folio case. Pre-ordered devices will start shipping on July 18th. Those who snoozed and therefore lost will be able to pick one up in stores that same week. Update: Let the pre-orders begin ! Continue reading Vizio Tablet goes up for limited pre-order, starts shipping mid-July Vizio Tablet goes up for limited pre-order, starts shipping mid-July originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 13:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
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 . It looks like somebody’s got a new publicist. Sure, the Google Street View car’s received its fair share of bad press lately — what with all those invasion of privacy claims — but we wouldn’t feel too sorry for the little guy. A recent episode of Burn Notice saw the camera-equipped auto make its national TV debut. It probably won’t win an Emmy for its role — it didn’t have any speaking lines, after all — but at least it’s getting some positive attention. [Thanks, Pat] Screen Grabs: Google Street View car rolls on to set of Burn Notice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …