Rumor has it that HP is preparing to enter the cloud-based music storage fray. A reader at PreCentral sent in what purports to be a confidential PowerPoint presentation indicating the TouchPad will launch with an HP-branded music and movie store, as well as a smart syncing service that caches frequently accessed media for local playback. This may very well be the ” Music Synergy ” that SVP Steven McArthur mentioned to us. Amazon has already launched such an app and it’s all but official that Google is planning the same thing, so it only makes sense that the company would want to imbue webOS with similar powers. We can’t verify these claims ourselves and the slide above is clearly a wonky Photoshop job, but it’s would hardly be surprising after snatching up Melodeo and the streaming music service Nutsie. And, while webOS and Android are working to banish the quaint ritual of plugging your cellphone into a computer, we can only imagine what the Lala team is up to — maybe Jobs has them washing his turtlenecks. HP may bless webOS with cloud-syncing music store originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Kohler’s Numi $6,400 high-tech toilet does most of the dirty work for you (video)
April 16, 2011 No Comment
We’ve seen some pretty fancy cans in our time, but perhaps none as tricked out as Kohler’s latest $6,400 john. The Numi does just about everything for you, aside from the stuff that, well, only you can do. Looking something akin to a fancy pop-top waste bin, Numi comes complete with a self-opening and closing lid so you never have to touch the toilet seat; a self-cleaning bidet with adjustable controls for temperature and water pressure; heating elements to keep your toes and tush toasty; an illuminated panel for nighttime rendezvous; a built-in speaker system that connects to a remote docking station to ensure only you know exactly what you’re doing in there; and a deodorizing element that sucks air from the bowl through a charcoal filter. Of course, no connected appliance would be complete without a touchscreen, and the Numi’s no exception; it has a touch panel remote that you can use to set to your specifications. Now, that’s what we call a porcelain throne. Check out the ridiculously lavish promo video after the break. Continue reading Kohler’s Numi $6,400 high-tech toilet does most of the dirty work for you (video) Kohler’s Numi $6,400 high-tech toilet does most of the dirty work for you (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Paper alloy takes shape for biodegradable consumer electronics (write your own origami joke)
April 16, 2011 No Comment
So you’re anxiously awaiting your biodegradable car and your biodegradable 3D glasses , waiting for the day when everything you own can return to the loam from which it sprang. But, what about the computer you’re using this very moment ? It’s probably made of non-green materials like injection-molded plastic, and slapping some bamboo on it isn’t fooling anyone. Design and engineering firm PEGA comes to your rescue with a new composite material made of recycled paper and polypropylene alloy. Lightweight, durable, and inexpensive to produce, it acts just like typical ABS plastic — and it even comes in the classic soul-killing beige. Maybe this is what Apple’s been waiting for . Paper alloy takes shape for biodegradable consumer electronics (write your own origami joke) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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May 15th is still a month away, but the Nintendo Wii’s price won’t wait — both Best Buy and Toys ‘R’ Us already have the motion-controlled console on sale for $170 today. Mind you, this doesn’t look like a permanent price cut — note “Limited Time Offer!” above — but we wouldn’t be surprised if other retailers follow suit in very short order. With rumors swirling around deeper price cuts and perhaps , maybe , possibly even a new backwards-compatible HD machine , every Wii sold at $170 today could be a little extra gold in their pockets and less unwanted inventory to deal with. Nintendo Wii on sale at Toys R Us, Best Buy for $169.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Virginia Tech is honoring the lives of the 32 people who were killed four years ago in the worst mass shooting in US History. (April 16)
Continue reading …Intubation bot lets doctors safely shove tubes down unconscious human throats
April 16, 2011 No Comment
We’ve seen all manner of medical robots ’round these parts, from bloodbots to surgical cyborgs . And now Dr. Thomas M. Hemmerling from McGill University Health Centre (who also helped develop the McSleepy anesthetic android ) has created the world’s first intubation robot. Called the Kepler Intubation System (KIS), it’s a robotic arm with a video laryngoscope that’s controlled via joystick — allowing MDs to get their Dr. Mario on while sliding an endotracheal tube into any passed-out meatbag with minimal fuss and maximum safety. The first procedure using the device on a real, live human was a success, and clinical testing continues. We’re not big on bots shoving anything anywhere (even if it does help us breathe while under the knife), but that’s better than android appendages lobbing grenades our way . Intubation bot lets doctors safely shove tubes down unconscious human throats originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Windows 8 to feature USB-runnable Portable Workspaces, sales of 16GB thumb drives set to soar
April 16, 2011 No Comment
There are endless flavors of “Linux on a stick,” tasty downloadable versions of that OS which run from removable storage and let you take Linus’ progeny for a spin without dedicating any of your partitions to the cause. There have been ways of making this work with Windows , too, but now Microsoft is getting into the game properly. That leaked version of Windows 8 we looked at recently contains a feature called Portable Workspaces, which enables you to take a 16GB (or greater) external storage device and dump a bootable, runnable copy of Win 8 on there. It remains to be seen just how many copies one could create, and whether they ever expire or, indeed, whether they can themselves be copied onto an HDD like a ghost image, but it’s easy to see this as a boon for support personnel. Well, support personnel of the future, anyway. [Thanks, Peter] Windows 8 to feature USB-runnable Portable Workspaces, sales of 16GB thumb drives set to soar originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Desire HD tries on Sensation’s Sense 3.0 suit, needs some tailoring for it to fit
April 16, 2011 No Comment
So you got all excited after seeing HTC’s latest UI on the Sensation , but were dismayed to discover your hoary handset wouldn’t be getting the same Sense 3.0 love? As usual, the folks at xda-developers have just the tonic for what ails you… as long as you own a Desire HD . Yup, a clever fellow by the name of capychimp took the Sensation’s ROM and ported it to yesteryear’s HTC European flagship phone. The port isn’t perfect — those who dive in will lose camera support and the images need some resizing to properly fit on the HD’s 800 x 480 display — but brave souls who hit the source link for the download still get all those mellifluous movements that Sense 3.0 provides. See all the smooth scrolling in action after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Continue reading Desire HD tries on Sensation’s Sense 3.0 suit, needs some tailoring for it to fit Desire HD tries on Sensation’s Sense 3.0 suit, needs some tailoring for it to fit originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HTC Sensation versus the rest of the dual-core world: smartphone spec sheet smackdown
April 16, 2011 No Comment
We got to feeling a bit curious about how exactly HTC’s latest Android superphone, the Sensation 4G , stacks up against its fellow dual-core competition, so we did what every geek does in such situations, we compiled a chart. Included in this list are the finest and brightest Android handsets from each of the major manufacturers that have gone dual-core so far: the Galaxy S II, the Atrix 4G, the Optimus 2X / G2X, and HTC’s own EVO 3D. As it turns out, there are quite a few commonalities among these phones (besides the benchmark-crushing performance). They all boast screens of either 4 or 4.3 inches in size, the minimum amount of RAM among them is 512MB, the smallest battery is 1500mAh, and yes, they all have front-facing video cameras. Basically, it’s the future of smartphones, reduced to a stat sheet. As such, it must also come with the warning that specs aren’t everything, and user experience will most often depend on the software available on each device and on the preferences of the human holding it. With that proviso fully digested, join us after the break for the data. Continue reading HTC Sensation versus the rest of the dual-core world: smartphone spec sheet smackdown HTC Sensation versus the rest of the dual-core world: smartphone spec sheet smackdown originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Samsung said its Android 2.3 update for the Galaxy S would come in mid-April and, by golly, it meant it literally . Sometime during the night between the 15th and 16th days of this month, the Korean manufacturer’s Kies servers started serving up a fresh portion of Gingerbread to Galaxy S owners in parts of Europe, and now reports are coming in of users successfully updating their Hummingbird -equipped handsets. It’s a limited rollout, benefiting the Nordic countries, Holland and Germany first, but we doubt Samsung will hold out on the rest of Europe for much longer. If you want to try your luck, boot up your Kies updating utility and pray to your nearest tech deity. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Galaxy S Gingerbread update now rolling out across Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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