Engadget interviews Dwyane Wade: the technology behind the Fly Wade (video)
April 5, 2011 No Comment
It’s not all that difficult to peer at some gadgets without fully understanding the wizardry and magic that assists in driving them from concept to reality. It’s always enjoyable seeing teardowns of our favorite gadgets that reveal working internals and appreciate a nice helping of factual heat, but did shoes ever cross your noggin as being technologically eye-opening? Sure, a few pairs of kicks have caught our attention over the years, but could a pair of sneakers be more than just that? We dug deep into our soles to answer that question, with help from a certain someone who now shares his court with a certain someone else who brought his talents to South Beach. If you’re interested in becoming familiar with the Fly Wade, head past the break to allow Dwyane Wade , designer Mark Smith and ourselves to introduce your brain to the latest in shoe technology. Gallery: Engadget interviews Dwyane Wade: the technology behind the Fly Wade Continue reading Engadget interviews Dwyane Wade: the technology behind the Fly Wade (video) Engadget interviews Dwyane Wade: the technology behind the Fly Wade (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
SpaceX promised something big , and it’s now delivered. The company today revealed its plans for the Falcon Heavy, which promises to be the “world’s most powerful rocket.” Just how powerful is that? SpaceX says the 22-story rocket will be able to carry satellites or spacecraft weighing over 53 metric tons (or 117,000 pounds) into low earth orbit, which is nearly twice what the Space Shuttle is able to carry. What’s more, this isn’t just a far off promise. SpaceX says the rocket will be “ready” sometime next year, and the first test flight is planned for 2013. The rocket’s sheer size isn’t it’s only selling point, though — it also promises to drastically reduce the cost of sending things into space, with each launch expected to cost “only” $100 million. Head on past the break for a taste of what’s in store. Continue reading SpaceX reveals plans for world’s most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy SpaceX reveals plans for world’s most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Panasonic rolls out new apps for its 2011 Viera Connect TVs, we go hands-on (video)
April 5, 2011 No Comment
We knew Panasonic was going to unleash a slew of new apps for its Viera Connect televisions, and now it looks like they’re finally ready to hit the ground running — for its 2011 models, anyway. Back in January the company released its Viera SDK to developers, and now it has a smattering of games and sports apps to show for it, including the long-promised NBA Game Time, which includes standings and highlights from recent games. In case you’re curious, there’s no sign yet of Asphalt 5 HD, also announced at CES, though Panasonic says the title should be launching in the near future. Also on tap are MLS and NHL applications, each of which let you watch live games — provided you subscribe to these leagues’ live game packages. Panasonic says the NHL app is slated for the middle of this month, and you can expect MLS in early May. What we’re most excited about, though, is an app that syncs with select NordicTrack treadmills (due out “later this year”), pairing your run with a first-person view in Google Earth. We can’t wait to embark on a simulated run through the streets of Paris (versus, you know, actually going there ), but alas, Panasonic wasn’t ready to demo the app quite yet. As always, Viera’s apps are arranged in a grid of large squares, right down to the standings and recorded matches in MLS, all of which makes these sets easy to navigate using a remote control. (We’ll be curious to see what it’s like playing Asphalt 5 with the remote, which you’ll have to do if you don’t want to spring for an optional wireless gaming controller.) The interface adds the occasional visual flourish, too, including a carousel of NHL standings and fly-in news categories in the AP’s news app. The software is generally responsive, although you might find yourself waiting a few extra seconds for news blurbs and other information-heavy tidbits to load. Want a sneak peak at these apps before they roll out this spring? Hit the link and check out the gallery and hands-on video. Gallery: Panasonic Viera Connect apps hands-on Continue reading Panasonic rolls out new apps for its 2011 Viera Connect TVs, we go hands-on (video) Panasonic rolls out new apps for its 2011 Viera Connect TVs, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Wondering what Google’s answer to Amazon’s cloud music player for Android will look like? Then it would seem you now have your answer –the Tech From 10 website somehow managed to receive a developer version of the Android Market, which allowed it to download Android Music 3.0 and try it out for themselves. That site’s unfortunately down at the moment (along with the download of the app itself that it was providing), but it doesn’t look like there’s too many surprises to be found. Things are almost identical to the existing Android Music player in terms of appearance, while the settings menu has expectedly been augmented with various streaming-related options. Android Market itself has also apparently been tweaked slightly, and the developer version included a few other surprises as well, including new camera and desk clock apps. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet been able to try it out ourselves, but you can keep an eye on the source link below for the downloads to return. Update: Looks like Droid Life is also hosting some downloads of its own. You can find them here . [Thanks, Joe] Google’s new cloud-based Android Music app leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
As we all know, the beauty of Android stems from the fact that you get a wide variety of choices when it comes to devices and interface, though the latter can sometimes be a double-edged sword . Luckily, users who are fed up with their bloated Android UI but don’t want to (or can’t) mess around with ROMs can now try an easier solution. Cooling on the oven rack is SPB’s Shell 3D app for Android, which installs as a replacement (but removable) home screen that comes with some nifty widgets (radio switches, backlight dimmer, weather forecast with a 3D chart, clock with over 60 skins, world time with a 3D globe, etc.) and resizeable folders. As you can see above, the highlight of the show here is a cool-looking 3D carousel for switching between up to 16 panels, and you can trigger it by either tapping or horizontally dragging the bottom-center button. Whilst in carousel mode, you can also rearrange the panels, change their colors, or flick away excess panels. All of this required no manual reading on our end, so it’s safe to say that this is a pretty intuitive app. Read on to see what the performance is like. Gallery: App review: SPB Shell 3D for Android Continue reading App review: SPB Shell 3D for Android App review: SPB Shell 3D for Android originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
It looks like Nokia is planning a little get together in London next Tuesday. That is, at least according to the invite posted at Mad For Tech — and verified ourselves, after a quick call to the company (it seems that some of the invites accidentally went out early, though we’ve been assured that ours is forthcoming). Will we finally get the inside dope on the next OTA Symbian update ? We can’t really say, but we assure you that we will be on hand when it all goes down. Nokia announces Symbian smartphone event for April 12 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Silverlight started as just a humble Flash competitor and now, well, it’s all grown up. Almost, anyway. It’s a fundamental part of the Windows Phone 7 ecosphere and word on the street is that it’s about to become a fundamental part of the Xbox 360 world as well — or a part, at least. Microsoft’s MIX 11 developer event kicks off next week and rumor has it that Microsoft will unload a new tier of Silverlight compatibility enabling apps on the company’s console and there’s the potential for writing apps that could run both on phones and on the console. That sounds like some utopian dream-world of the future, where wavey-arm Kinect antics replace touchscreen swipes, but the bigger question is does the Xbox 360 really need another app store? Will this co-exist with the XNA-developed titles or supersede them? Is this why Xbox developer boxes just got a lot cheaper ? Might we finally get Angry Birds on our HDTVs? Such delicious ponderings. Silverlight coming to Xbox, bringing WP7 games along with it? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Ah, would you look at that. Earlier this year there were rumors about Apple ditching the physical home button on upcoming iOS devices, and now we have what appears to be a new iPod touch prototype matching such description, courtesy of CrunchGear via Mr. Blurrycam. According to its About screen, this “DVT-1″ (a late milestone ) device packs 128GB of memory — twice as much as the largest available capacity option right now (remember that 64GB iPhone 4 prototype in Hong Kong?) — as well as a model number “MC550LL” which isn’t far off from those of the fourth-gen iPod touches (“MC54xLL”), though this similarity doesn’t help prove its authenticity nor indicate whether it’ll make it to the market. Still, if Apple does go ahead with this grubby device or at least its capacitive home button, we might see new gesture controls for the bezel area below the screen
Continue reading …Nook matches Kindle by bundling free web access to NYTimes.com with digital edition sub
April 5, 2011 No Comment
Adhering to strict alphabetical order, where Amazon leads, Barnes & Noble follows. The Kindle was last week announced to include access beyond the New York Times ‘ freshly erected online paywall as part of its device subscription to the NYT and now, lo and behold, the Nook family (including the Nook Color ) is following suit in identical fashion. If you’re happy to obtain your sub to New York’s finest paper from the Nook Newsstand — which costs $20 per month, same as Amazon’s levy — you’ll get the bonus, complimentary, free-of-charge privilege of being able to access NYTimes.com without any constraints as well. So what if the online edition used to be free for the past eleventy years? The new Times dictates some fealty be paid and we’re happy to see these e-reader purveyors helping to alleviate (mask?) that cost for some of us. Full PR after the break. Continue reading Nook matches Kindle by bundling free web access to NYTimes.com with digital edition sub Nook matches Kindle by bundling free web access to NYTimes.com with digital edition sub originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 09:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Dell’s Rosemount tablet is similar to the HP Slate in that it’s a 10-inch, business-centric Windows 7 tablet whose launch has been bumped back further than originally expected. To be clear, this isn’t an explicit delay, since Dell has never given official indication for when in 2011 it’ll launch the slate device, but a leaked tablet roadmap back in February suggested it would be with us in the warm and breezy days of June. Now, Forbes is reporting insider info that states the Rosemount won’t be hitting shops until fall, September at the earliest, meaning it’ll miss the back-to-school sales period but arrive with plenty of time for the holiday shopping rush. Let’s hope all this time taken leads to a finger-friendly software overlay for Windows 7 — we love the OS’ multivariate functionality but it was never designed for control with the imprecision of fleshy digits. Dell’s 10-inch Windows 7 tablet staying hidden until fall originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …