American Express may have been lagging a bit behind the likes of Visa and Mastercard with digital payments over the years, but it’s making a pretty big play in the field today. It’s just announced its new “Serve” digital payment platform, which is more or less a straight-on competitor to PayPal . That means you’ll be able to transfer funds to your Serve account from your bank account or credit card, send money to other using either the website or mobile app (currently available for iOS and Android), and even link your account to a reloadable Serve card, which you can use at any retailer that accepts American Express credit cards. Nothing fancy like NFC payments just yet, but American Express is promising to “quickly evolve” the platform by adding new features and functionality, and it’s hoping to kick start things by waiving most of the consumer fees for the first six months. Head on past the break for the complete press release, and hit up the source link below if you’d like to sign up. Continue reading American Express challenges PayPal with ‘Serve’ digital payment platform American Express challenges PayPal with ‘Serve’ digital payment platform originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Microsoft’s been toying around with hardware for so-called white space spectrum for some time now , and it’s now back with another fairly ambitious scheme. Dubbed “SpecNet,” the hardware in this case in actually a network of spectrum analyzers that would seek out and map where spectrum is available and where it’s not, and let unlicensed devices use it when it’s available. Of course, that’s still all a bit theoretical, and it does face a few significant hurdles. Those spectrum analyzers, for instance would cost between $10,000 and $40,000 apiece, and you’d obviously need a lot of them for a nationwide network, although Microsoft suggests that they could be set up on an ad hoc basis and assigned to different areas for a specific time period. Those interested in the finer technical details can dive into Microsoft’s full paper on the subject at the source link below. Microsoft’s SpecNet promises to seek out unused wireless spectrum originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s had quite a run, but Intel’s venerable X-25M series of SSDs has now finally been replaced by the company’s new, third-generation SSD 320 Series. Those rely on some brand new 25nm Intel NAND flash memory, and are available in capacities ranging from 40GB to 160GB for mere mortals, plus some higher capacity 300GB and 600GB models for particularly demanding users. What’s more, Intel is quick to boast that the new drives are actually 30 percent cheaper than the previous generation, with prices running from just $89 for 40GB to $1,069 for that 600GB drive. Head on past the break for the official press release, and check out the more coverage links below for some early reviews. Continue reading Intel rolls out third-generation SSD 320 Series drives Intel rolls out third-generation SSD 320 Series drives originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Back at CES, Samsung pulled out quite a few surprises, and no, we’re not referring to its Zoll-infused press conference — although , that performance still gives us the willies. Of all the Korean company’s announcements at the show, which we’ll remind you included an impressive new LTE phone and range of SmartTVs , it was its Series 9 laptop that left us the most stunned. And well, a glance at that picture above should explain why we found ourselves counting down the days until its March launch date. The 2.8-pound system is a complete and total 180 from Samsung’s typical bulky mainstream systems, yet its 0.64-inch thick chassis still crams in quite a bit of horsepower with a Core i5-2537M processor, a 128GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM. It’s also built from some of the toughest stuff on earth, has a backlit keyboard, and an incredibly high quality 400 nit LCD. You see, the $1,699 machine teeters on having the absolute perfect balance of beauty and brawn, and certainty has the core ingredients to compete with that other extremely popular and super thin ultraportable — but when you get it home and out of its fancy box, does it truly have the chops? Or is this just yet another rail thin and expensive Windows laptop that falls short? The time has come to find out – hit the break for our full review. Gallery: Samsung Series 9 review Gallery: Series 9 unboxing / Air compared Continue reading Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review Samsung Series 9 (NP900X3A) laptop review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The PlayStation Phone. We’ve had quite the intimate history with this gamepad-equipped slider, learning of its secretive existence way back in August and then handling a prototype unit in January , so you’ll forgive us for feeling sentimental and still entertaining our pet name for it. The Sony Ericsson marketing gurus renamed it the Xperia Play when it finally went official at MWC this year, but the PlayStation connection remains as strong as ever. Aside from the D-pad, iconic game keys, and two touchpads, this device comes with a little app named PlayStation Pocket, which will be serving up dollops of classic PlayStation One gaming to all those with a taste for it. Yes, the Sony influence is strong with this one, and the Android Market will be joining the fun with Xperia Play-optimized titles from third-party developers. So all we really need to know now is whether the Android smartphone underpinning this smash-bang fusion of old and new school entertainment happens to be any good. Shall we get Started? Gallery: Xperia Play review Continue reading Sony Ericsson Xperia Play review Sony Ericsson Xperia Play review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …BrainGate hits 1,000 day mind-control milestone, nearly three years of pointing and clicking
March 28, 2011 No Comment
Aspiring Svengalis rejoice! For BrainGate has reached a significant landmark in computational thought-control — the 4 x 4-mm implantable chip has given a woman with tetraplegia the ability to point and click with her brain for 1,000 days. An article recently published in the Journal of Neural Engineering said the woman, known simply as S3, performed two easy tasks every 24 hours, using her mind to manipulate a cursor with 90 percent accuracy. Each day she was monitored, S3 would post up in front of a computer and continuously command the thing with her thoughts for 10 minutes. Functionality reportedly deteriorated over time, but the paper points to the chip’s durability, not sensor-brain incompatibility, as the culprit. Research is currently underway to incorporate BrainGate into advanced prosthetics that could get tetraplegics like S3 up and moving again. Now, how’s that for the power of positive thinking? BrainGate hits 1,000 day mind-control milestone, nearly three years of pointing and clicking originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Netflix nabs exclusive subscription pay TV rights to Paramount movies — in Canada
March 28, 2011 No Comment
So far Canadian Netflix users have had to deal with a far more limited streaming library than their US cousins, exacerbated by the lack of a DVD / Blu-ray library to fall back on, but that’s about to change. Netflix has struck a deal in Canada with Paramount for premium pay TV window access covering “exclusive subscription television rights to all first-run films.” Currently in the US Netflix’s deal with Epix gives it access to many of the same movies ( Iron Man 2 — already available since the 25th in Canada, while not currently ready for streaming in the US — Titanic , Zoolander , The Last Airbender ) eventually, but that’s clearly not exclusive. While it’s previously cut deals with smaller distributors like Relativity Media and Nu Image/Millennium Films for pay TV window access, the combo of exclusive and a major studio like Paramount makes Netflix a pay TV channel competitor in a whole new way. This backs up its earlier move in that direction by signing up for a new original show to debut on the service in 2012 and potentially adds a new edge to rumored negotiations for the Miramax back catalog , press release follows after the break. Continue reading Netflix nabs exclusive subscription pay TV rights to Paramount movies — in Canada Netflix nabs exclusive subscription pay TV rights to Paramount movies — in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Netflix nabs exclusive subscription pay TV rights to Paramount movies — in Canada
March 28, 2011 No CommentSo far Canadian Netflix users have had to deal with a far more limited streaming library than their US cousins, exacerbated by the lack of a DVD / Blu-ray library to fall back on, but that’s about to change. Netflix has struck a deal in Canada with Paramount for premium pay TV window access covering “exclusive subscription television rights to all first-run films.” Currently in the US Netflix’s deal with Epix gives it access to many of the same movies ( Iron Man 2 — already available since the 25th in Canada, while not currently ready for streaming in the US — Titanic , Zoolander , The Last Airbender ) eventually, but that’s clearly not exclusive. While it’s previously cut deals with smaller distributors like Relativity Media and Nu Image/Millennium Films for pay TV window access, the combo of exclusive and a major studio like Paramount makes Netflix a pay TV channel competitor in a whole new way. This backs up its earlier move in that direction by signing up for a new original show to debut on the service in 2012 and potentially adds a new edge to rumored negotiations for the Miramax back catalog , press release follows after the break. Continue reading Netflix nabs exclusive subscription pay TV rights to Paramount movies — in Canada Netflix nabs exclusive subscription pay TV rights to Paramount movies — in Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A new membership-based, do-it-yourself fabrication and manufacturing space allows inventors to work on their gadgets using the latest in high-tech equipment. Tech Shop has opened facilities in California with plans to expand across the country. (March 28)
Continue reading …Dell freshens up Inspiron M5030 with Spanish-language keyboard, claims it’s first of its kind in US
March 28, 2011 No Comment
The Athlon-powered M5030 from Dell hardly looked like a machine that would be bearing an “industry first” label when it launched in September of last year, but now it’s doing exactly that thanks to an intriguing new mod from its maker. The 15.6-incher is being released with its keyboard and Windows 7 installation customized in Spanish, neither of which would be unusual were it not for the fact that it’s going to be on sale in the US. It’s not exactly a vast overhaul, as only a couple of physical keys are swapped out and switching Win 7 into and out of Spanish mode can be done in the time it takes to click a mouse, but still, it’s significant in that it services the speakers of the States’ second most commonly used language. Pricing for the M5030 en espa
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