Not interested in forking over the $400 required for one of Google’s recommended Android Open Accessory development kits? Well, then it looks like you now have another considerably cheaper option courtesy of Shenzhen’s own Seeed Studio. It’s now offering what it’s dubbed a “Seeeduino ADK” board for a mere $80, which it says is fully compatible with Google’s ADK , and includes all the basics you need to start building your own Android accessories. You won’t be able to start building those just yet, however, as Seeed Studio says the board will only start shipping on June 20th. You can still get your order in right now at the link below, though. [Thanks, Ian] Seeeduino ADK lets you build Android accessories on the cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Look closely at that blue blob up above and you’ll realize it’s made up of 500 butterflies, each one meticulously cut from photovoltaic cells. The hundreds of insects collect the sun’s rays as they flutter around a giant glass bulb that turns into a churning mass of light after dusk. The Virtue of Blue chandelier is a stunning work of art by Dutch designer Jeroen Verhoeven that draws connections between the beauty and power of nature and the importance of sustainable energy… or, you know, just something trippy to stare at while you sip a few cocktails at the Blain|Southern gallery in London. Gallery: Virtue of Blue Solar-powered butterfly chandelier is a fluttering mass of art and light originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If Dell’s latest 17-inch powerhouse is too beastly for your next business trip, HP has begun selling its trio of new EliteBook mobile workstations , with screen sizes as small as 14 inches. In the case of both the 14-inch 8460w and the 15.6-inch 8560w, you get discrete graphics standard and can choose a $1,000 Core i7-2820QM processor, among less pricey options. (With the 15-inch iteration, you can also opt for a 1 billion-color DreamColor display.) Admittedly, you will have to step up to the 17-inch 8760w if you want a Core i7-2920XM CPU, AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro graphics with up to 4GB of memory, and up to three hard drives with RAID 5 support. As promised, they’re going for $1,299, $1,239, and $1,899, respectively — in case your corporate card’s just begging for its next hit. [Thanks, Fuzzball] HP EliteBook 8460w, 8560w, and 8760w mobile workstations all go on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 01:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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This isn’t the first time Windows has been invited to the AirPlay party, but Thomas Pleasance’s AirPlay for Windows Media Center addin seems to already be one of the smoother combinations we’ve seen and it’s still in beta. Unsurprisingly, it does what the name says, so after installing Apple’s Bonjour service and the free client on your Media Center PC you should be able to stream video or pictures to it (there’s no support for music yet) from an iPad or iPhone with a simple click. The Digital Lifestyle has already gotten a quick hands-on with the app and got it working seamlessly as seen above, check that out for more details or hit the source link to download the necessary software to make it all work. AirPlay for Windows Media Center does exactly what you’re thinking it does originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 03:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Microsoft’s proper preview event for the next big release of Windows Phone may be mere hours away, but there’s still time for a bit of good old fashioned web sleuthing before then. Latest on our radar is this Microsoft Developer Network page listing out all the APIs in Silverlight for Windows Phone 7.1 . That’s right, your eyes do not deceive you, there’s a whole extra decimal added to the OS number, ostensibly signifying the move to the Mango update we’re all so hungry for. Fuller details will be forthcoming later on today, but for now, pencil in the number 7.1 alongside the dream specs of your next Windows Phone. Windows Phone 7.1 is the likely name for Mango OS update originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 05:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …AMD Llano quad-core APUs and Zambezi octa-core CPUs get priced, the former listed inside an HP dv6
May 24, 2011 No Comment
Don’t mistake the relative quietness from AMD on the APU front for inactivity. Ever since announcing the first shipment of its Llano Accelerated Processing Unit in April, the company’s been working behind the scenes to ramp up availability to OEMs, and somewhere along the supply chain a gracious soul has been found who’s leaked the bulk pricing for those chips. The new quad-core A Series processors start off at $110 for an A6-3450 and max out at $170 for an A8-3550P, but there’s also mention of octa-core FX processors, which will weigh in at $320 a piece and reputedly compete with Intel’s 3.4GHz Core i7-2600K . The latter are built around AMD’s Bulldozer modules (wherein one module counts for two cores) and look to be the manifestation of the company’s Zambezi CPUs , which could come without an integrated graphics processor as is available on the Llano and the rest of AMD’s Fusion line. Just to whet appetites further, we’ve also come across an HP dv6 on an obscure German retail site, offering a 1.6GHz A6-3410MX APU, 6GB of RAM, and a most reasonable €590 price. There’s obviously no promised delivery date, but this should be the first of many such appearances in the coming days as we build up towards Computex 2011. Something tells us AMD won’t be holding back when the Taipei electronics show gets started. [Thanks, Shashwat and Vygantas] AMD Llano quad-core APUs and Zambezi octa-core CPUs get priced, the former listed inside an HP dv6 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 04:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 priced at €606 by Amazon.de, joined by 10.1 model in a pre-order dance
May 24, 2011 No Comment
The US already knows when Samsung will launch its updated Galaxy Tab models and for how much , but that picture hasn’t been quite as lucid over in Europe. Amazon.de is doing its best to dissipate the mists of unknowing by listing the 16GB Galaxy Tab 8.9 at a price of €606.50 ($852), whether you’re buying the version with a black or white back. That sounds a relatively steep price, but it’s not clear whether we’re talking about the WiFi-only or 3G-equipped model. Notably, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 option is also listed alongside its 8.9-inch brethren, but there’s no price attached to it yet. All we can really say for now is that the wheels are in motion and these Honeycomb tablets look to be on their way to the Euro market at about the same time as they’ll hit the American one.
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What do you do just before you decide to upgrade your old device with some new hotness? You sell the old stuff on eBay, right? Well, B&N doesn’t seem to have any better ideas than you as it’s started offering its classic Nook e-reader for $99 on the online auction site, undercutting its own price by $50 . This is the WiFi-only dual-screen unit, as you might surmise, not the Color tablet that’s been treading dangerously close to being a fully fledged Android slate. If you’re an E Ink loyalist on a budget, this might just be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for, though don’t blame us if Barnes & Noble comes up with a fancier, more lustworthy model in the time it takes for that free delivery to reach your door. [Thanks, Sheldon] Barnes & Noble selling Nooks for $99 on eBay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Ballmer didn’t get specific when he said the Windows Phone Mango update would bring 500 new features , but we’d bet our blue screens that a handful of those additions are wrapped up in IE9. In addition to the long awaited landscape mode address bar, IE9 for Windows Phone promises to bolster performance through GPU acceleration and an improved rendering experience. The browser update boasts a litany of support features: the aforementioned GPU-accelerated browsing, full-screen video through HTML5 (though not embedded, sorry!), GPS-based geolocation, ECMAScript 5, 2D CSS3, etc. We should know a whole heap of a lot more come tomorrow morning, so be sure to follow along during our liveblog right here. IE9 code for Windows Phone 7 complete, adds landscape address bar originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 00:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Well what do we have here? We were loitering around the Intel booth here at the MeeGo Conference in San Francisco when we spotted this lonely little device resting unsupervised in the back, so we decided to give it a whirl and snap some pictures. It turns out it’s a circa 10-inch tablet made by i-Buddie and built on Intel’s recent Oak Trail architecture. Of course it’s running MeeGo, but sadly we were unable to connect to the Internet — something to do with missing WiFi drivers, according to the Intel rep who eventually caught up with us to snatch the tablet from our eager paws. We missed the opportunity to make a video, but take a look at our hands-on gallery below. Gallery: i-Buddie Oak Trail tablet at Meego Conference 2011 i-Buddie Oak Trail tablet makes cameo at MeeGo Conference 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 May 2011 21:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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