When you think of manufacturers that create products to go hand-in-hand with the Apple iPhone, Leica probably wouldn’t come to mind. The seemingly brilliant minds at Black Design Associates hope to change that, however. The Leica i9 concept pairs an iPhone 4 with a fixed-lens rangefinder camera, and the result is nothing short of extraordinary. Slipping your iPhone 4 — black or white — into the back of the i9 brings the camera to life, activating the compact optical zoom, dedicated aperture and shutter dials, flash and light meter. Images are instantly viewable on the iPhone, where it’s safe to assume they’re stored as well. The camera back doubles as a case, but you’re probably going to want to use it with a headset, unless you like talking to a camera. There’s no sign that the i9 will even reach the prototype phase, but nobody is going to stop the high-end camera’s designer from dreaming — especially when said dreams make us weak at the knees. Continue reading Leica i9 concept pairs $1,000 camera with $200 iPhone Leica i9 concept pairs $1,000 camera with $200 iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Asahi’s new slim glass substrate for touchscreen displays gives smartphones svelte silhouettes
April 25, 2011 No Comment
We all want our handhelds to have copious computing power and bountiful battery life, but thin is in , and most users are looking for a device that’s less Marilyn Monroe and more Kate Moss . To keep new phones and tablets runway-ready, Asahi developed a thinner glass substrate for use in touchscreen displays. This new 0.28mm soda-lime glass is 15% thinner than the company’s existing offerings, and Asahi will begin mass producing it by the end of April. The skinny new substrate will strut its stuff at SID next month — paired with some durable Dragontail , no doubt — so we’re looking forward to getting handsy with the company’s new slim and trim displays. Mostly, we’re just thrilled that our future phones won’t look as fat in our jeans. PR’s after the break. Continue reading Asahi’s new slim glass substrate for touchscreen displays gives smartphones svelte silhouettes Asahi’s new slim glass substrate for touchscreen displays gives smartphones svelte silhouettes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Researchers build synthetic synapse circuit, prosthetic brains still decades away
April 25, 2011 No Comment
Building a franken-brain has long been a holy grail of sorts for scientists, but now a team of engineering researchers have made what they claim to be a significant breakthrough towards that goal. Alice Parker and Chongwu Zhou of USC used carbon nanotubes to create synthetic synapse circuits that mimic neurons, the basic building blocks of the brain. This could be invaluable to AI research , though the team still hasn’t tackled the problem of scope — our brains are home to 100 billion neurons, each of which has 10,000 synapses. Moreover, these nanotubes are critically lacking in plasticity — they can’t form new connections, produce new neurons, or adapt with age. All told, the scientists say, we’re decades away from having fake brains — or even sections of it — but if the technology advances as they hope it will, people might one day be able to recover from devastating brain injuries and drive cars smart enough to avert deadly accidents. Continue reading Researchers build synthetic synapse circuit, prosthetic brains still decades away Researchers build synthetic synapse circuit, prosthetic brains still decades away originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 19:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
That, friends, is an inventory listing from Best Buy indicating the mythical white iPhone 4 will finally be in stock and for sale this Wednesday, April 27th (just in time to be overshadowed by rumors of the iPhone 5). Of course, we’ve seen it pop up in inventory systems before, including Best Buy’s , only to be let down when the alleged street date came and went without so much as a glossy-white glimmer of hope. But, we’ve heard straight from Apple’s Phil Schiller that it would ship in the spring , and with one already finding its way into the hands of a lucky Londoner a Wednesday release for the paler-than-black iPhone is looking plausible. Still, we’re not quite ready to call this one confirmed. [Thanks, Anonymous] White iPhone 4 coming to Best Buy on Wednesday? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Shocker! Instant messaging gains popularity as TXTing declines, BBM to blame
April 25, 2011 No Comment
Apparently, those young’uns just love their BBM. According to a report by the research group Mobile Youth, young folk (read: those of you between 15 and 24) are increasingly abandoning SMS in favor of instant messaging apps, with texting expected to drop off 20 percent over the next two years. The main culprit? BlackBerry Messenger , which now boasts over 39 million users, many of them living outside the US. In fact, it’s in the UK, Indonesia, South Africa, and Brazil — all popular markets for BBM — that Mobile Youth expects texting to dwindle the most. And if BBM is to blame, well, that drop-off could be just the beginning . Shocker! Instant messaging gains popularity as TXTing declines, BBM to blame originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Since we first peeked the new Sandy Bridge-equipped Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 back in February we haven’t heard much about these mobile workstations. We still don’t have prices or a release date, but a leaked manual has finally delivered some specs — and CAD enthusiasts won’t be disappointed. Both the 15.6-inch M4600 and the 17-inch M6600 can be configured with up to a Core i7 Quad Extreme 2920XM and 32GB of RAM. The smaller, 6.3-pound M4600 comes standard with a 1GB AMD FirePro M5950 and can be upgraded to an NVIDIA Quadro 2000M with 2GB. The more beastly 7.5-pound M6600 starts with a 2GB FirePro M8900 and has options ranging all the way up to a 4GB Quadro 5010M. Both machines also come packing two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of USB 2.0 connectors, an eSATA jack, and an IEEE 1394 port, giving you plenty of room to plug in all the external drives, cameras, scientific instruments, and cat-shaped mouse cozies your little heart desires. [Thanks, Wolf] Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 specs spotted in leaked manual originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Today marks 50th anniversary of first silicon integrated circuit patent (and the entire computing industry)
April 25, 2011 No Comment
There’s little question that the last 50 years have represented the most innovative half-decade in human history, and today marks the anniversary of the invention that started it all: the silicon-based integrated circuit. Robert Noyce received the landmark U.S. patent on April 25, 1961, going on to found Intel Corporation with Gordon E. Moore (of Moore’s Law fame) in 1968. He wasn’t the first to invent the integrated circuit — the inventor of the pocket calculator Jack Kilby patented a similar technology on a germanium wafer for Texas Instruments a few months prior. Noyce’s silicon version stuck, however, and is responsible for Moore’s estimated $3.7 billion net worth, not to mention the success of the entire computing industry. Holding 16 other patents and credited as a mentor of Steve Jobs , Noyce was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1987, and continued to shape the computing industry until his death in 1990. If Moore’s Law continues to hold true, as we anticipate it will, we expect the next 50 years to be even more exciting than the last. Let’s meet back here in 2061. Today marks 50th anniversary of first silicon integrated circuit patent (and the entire computing industry) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Editorial: Hey Apple, why does it take an hour to put an album on my iPod?
April 25, 2011 No Comment
This one’s been a long time comin’, but the iTunes forced backup / syncing issue is no less real today than it was a decade ago when iTunes began to play a larger-than-life role in the operation of Apple’s iDevices. As it stands, it’s effectively impossible to use an iPhone, iPad or iPod without also using iTunes, and while Apple’s done an exemplary job ensuring that it works with most major platforms (yes, Windows included ), there’s one nagging question that just won’t go away: why ? Continue reading Editorial: Hey Apple, why does it take an hour to put an album on my iPod? Editorial: Hey Apple, why does it take an hour to put an album on my iPod? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
It’s a sad day for Bobsled’s one-eyed chat bubble monster, as T-Mobile has just announced it’s temporarily shuttering the recently launched VoIP service. A statement released on Bobsled’s Facebook profile revealed it is “voluntarily and temporarily suspending service” of its week-old app to “ensure that the Bobsled experience is clearly differentiated and is not mistaken for a Facebook created property.” The news comes at a particularly inopportune moment, as Vivox just made its own announcement (embedded after the break) saying it will power the seemingly ill-fated app. No word yet on when the service will be back up and running, but this doesn’t bode well for T-Mo’s foray into the VoIP market. [Thanks, Elad] Continue reading T-Mobile’s Bobsled temporarily suspends service in first week T-Mobile’s Bobsled temporarily suspends service in first week originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Believe it or not, blazing-fast WiFi routers don’t have to look like anti-aircraft weapons . The new flagship device from Netgear , the N750, keeps its array of antennae stashed out of sight. Even without a gaudy design, this dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n router can hit speeds of 450Mbps over the 5GHz band and 300Mbps at 2.4Ghz, for an “aggregate combined data rate” of 750Mbps. Don’t get too excited though, all that means is you can connect one device in either band without dragging down the transfer rate of the other — you’re still bound by the 450Mbps speed limit . The N750 also includes a ReadySHARE USB port for network storage, parental controls, and guest access — not bad for $150, eh? Continue reading Netgear’s N750 wireless router Newspeaks its way to 750Mbps Netgear’s N750 wireless router Newspeaks its way to 750Mbps originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …