Had enough Google for the week? We thought not. We’re still cranking on content from the (admittedly momentous) first day , but we’ll be taking a break just after lunch tomorrow (May 11th in the great state of California) to bring you blow-by-blow coverage of the outfit’s final keynote for I/O 2011. It’ll be hard to top the bevy of introductions from today, but we’re guessing Google’s down for trying to top itself. We’ll see you tomorrow, and if you’re looking to follow along as it happens, you can bookmark our liveblog page right here . 06:30AM – Hawaii 09:30AM – Pacific 10:30AM – Mountain 11:30AM – Central 12:30PM – Eastern 05:30PM – London 06:30PM – Paris 08:30PM – Moscow / Dubai 12:30AM – Perth (May 12th) 12:30AM – Shenzhen (May 12th) 01:30AM – Tokyo (May 12th) 02:30AM – Sydney (May 12th) Google I/O 2011 continues tomorrow, get your (second) liveblog right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Just as we’re wrapping up day one of Google I/O 2011, Forbes received an interesting piece of information regarding Chrome OS . According to an unnamed senior Google executive, tomorrow’s keynote will see the launch of a Chrome laptop tagged with an attractive $20-per-month “student package.” If true, this will make a compelling option for laptop-seeking students bounded by a limited budget (booze before books, right?), and Forbes speculates that a similar enterprise offering will follow soon — makes sense considering Google’s already cosying up to businesses with its $50-a-year Google Apps suite. Anyhow, all will be unveiled soon enough — keep an eye out for our Google I/O day 2 liveblog tomorrow for the full monty. Google to offer $20-a-month ‘student package’ for a Chrome laptop? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 22:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …T-Mobile snaps up ‘SnapPad’ trademark and domains, inadvertently teases tablet?
May 10, 2011 No Comment
Companies register trademarks and domain names all the time to throw us off the scent , but somehow this one feels different — DotWeekly reports that T-Mobile’s made a bona fide landgrab for the word “SnapPad,” buying up a host of domains and filing the trademark picture above within the span of just two days last week. Needless to say, we’re envisioning a host of potential slates right now, all with magenta trim… and wouldn’t it be fitting if they housed a speedy Snapdragon ? We’ll keep you posted. T-Mobile snaps up ‘SnapPad’ trademark and domains, inadvertently teases tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 20:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Today at Google I/O we got a chance to play with Meta Watch , Fossil’s wearable development platform, which allows developers to extend the interfaces of devices and applications to the wrist. Both watches — one analog / digital with traditional dial plus two small OLED displays, the other digital with a larger memory-in-pixel LCD (a highly reflective, always-on, ultra low-power screen) — feature Bluetooth for communication, along with a vibration motor, three-axis accelerometer, and ambient light sensor. The devices are built around Texas Instrument’s super efficient MSP430TM microcontroller and CC2560 Bluetooth radio and will run seven days on a charge. A set of contacts in the back allow the watches to interface with a debugging clip for charging and JTAG programming. The hardware is paired with an SDK which allows a tablet or smartphone running Android to register button presses and receive sensor data from the watches, and then respond by sending text or triggering the vibration motor. It’s also possible to develop custom embedded wearable applications running directly on your wrist, and it’ll be up to developers to truly unleash the magical possibilities here. Speaking of developers, the Meta Watch is currently available to pre-order for $199 (see our source link), with availability pegged for June 30th. Based on what we heard today at Google I/O, the watch is being hawked to devs only, but it’s obvious that DIY-minded consumers could buy one as well. For now, just two of the models shown here will be sold, but there’s no telling what’ll happen once the platform has enough of a backbone to support an influx of consumer buying. The company’s not handing out a timeframe as to when it’ll be ready for the mass market, but we’d be shocked if it’s still floundering around this time next year. Interested in having an early peek? Take a look at our gallery below and our hands-on video after the break. Gallery: Fossil Meta Watch wrists-on at Google I/O Continue reading Fossil Meta Watch wrists-on at Google I/O (video) Fossil Meta Watch wrists-on at Google I/O (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 20:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The latest and greatest (and largest) 3D plasmas from Panasonic are finally shipping, including the flagship, THX-certified Viera VT30 sets with their single sheet of glass panels and Infinite Black Pro2 filters. We first caught a glimpse of these bad boys back at CES and we’ve been impatiently waiting for a chance to blast our retinas with their PDP goodness in all three dimensions. The company was nice enough to invite us over recently to have a little TV powwow that featured an uncomfortable amount of Avatar on Bluray. Keep reading after the break for all the not-so-gory details. Gallery: Panasonic 2011 3D TVs Continue reading Eyes on with the VT30, Panasonic’s flagship 3D plasma Eyes on with the VT30, Panasonic’s flagship 3D plasma originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 18:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google’s Prediction API lets Fords learn all about you, tell you where to go
May 10, 2011 No Comment
Earlier today, Google revealed plans to make our abodes more efficient and user friendly through Android automation , and it turns out they’re helping Ford to do the same for our automobiles. You see, our driving habits affect the gas mileage we get, and if our cars could predict our preferred travel patterns they could optimize powertrain performance to max out our MPGs. That’s why the Blue Oval Boys plan to use Google’s Prediction API to learn our driving habits and combine that data with real time traffic info to make its cars increasingly efficient. The system isn’t yet ready for showrooms, as there is work to be done securing the personal data and location awareness information, but hopefully it won’t be long before every new Ford can help us get from here to there with minimal fuel consumption. Here’s hoping William Daniels is the one doling out the directions. Gallery: Google and Ford Prediction API Continue reading Google’s Prediction API lets Fords learn all about you, tell you where to go Google’s Prediction API lets Fords learn all about you, tell you where to go originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It feels like just yesterday we charted the streaming music landscape , but it’s already changed in a big way — Google is muscling in on the likes of Rhapsody, Pandora and particularly Amazon with its Google Music Beta . Being able to take 20,000 of your personal tunes, stream them over the web and cache them locally on your device isn’t functionality to sneeze at, so it’s time we updated our charts. After the break, see how the big streaming services stack up. Continue reading Google Music Beta versus the titans of the streaming music space: a chart Google Music Beta versus the titans of the streaming music space: a chart originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …$211,000 Apple-1 up and running, wants to know what this ‘cloud’ thing is all about
May 10, 2011 No Comment
Wondering whatever became of the Apple-1 that sold at Christie’s for $211,535? Turns out the extremely limited edition system wasn’t destined for airtight museum displays — not for the time being, at least. Auction winner / entrepreneur Mark Bogle brought the Wozniak-built system on stage with him at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy this week, and discussed its place in computing history with a group of professors before proceeding to fire it up. According to Italian Apple blog Macity , the process went “smoothly,” and with the help of an oscilloscope and a MacBook Pro, the system was fed into an NTSC monitor, displaying the words “Hello Polito” — a friendly message for the Polytechnic crowd. It’s not Doom , but we’ll take it. [Thanks, Settimio] $211,000 Apple-1 up and running, wants to know what this ‘cloud’ thing is all about originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 17:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Google dropped an amazing amount of stuff on us this morning , up to and including using your phone to turn off a lamp and a tablet to control a giant wooden labyrinth. Move past the flash, though, and the news with the most immediate impact to Android users is the release of the Music Beta by Google , plus the availability of movie rentals on the go. Now you can take your tunes all up into the cloud and pay too much to bring some movies along with you. That all sounds great, but we have somewhat mixed feelings about the whole thing. Check ‘em out below. Continue reading Editorial: Engadget on Google Music and Movies for Android Editorial: Engadget on Google Music and Movies for Android originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Is this Apple’s next iPod nano ? It is if you believe the folks from Taiwan’s Apple.pro website who, as you may recall, also recently got their hands on a purported next-gen iPod nano chassis that seems to match the complete device pictured above. As you can see, the big change here is the addition of a built-in camera that’s said to be 1.3 megapixels, which appears to have also shoved the clip out of the way, although there does seem to be a faint outline where one could be. Of course, the key word here is purported — to its credit, some of the site’s leaks have indeed panned out in the past, but we’d still recommend taking this one with a grain of salt for the time being. Purported seventh-gen iPod nano spotted, complete with 1.3 megapixel camera originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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