Dell’s Streak 5 tabletphone hasn’t held our interest much lately, even with Android 2.2 on board , but Dell’s got a new deal that may be too good to pass up. If you already had your heart set on nabbing a Dell notebook or desktop PC priced at over $699 — say, one of those shiny new Sandy Bridge rigs — you can add an unlocked Streak 5 to your cart for just $99. Now that’s what we call an impulse buy. [Thanks, Matthew K.] Dell offers unlocked Streak for $99 with purchase of a new PC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 16:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NASA’s MESSENGER begins orbit around Mercury, will start beaming back science early next month
March 19, 2011 No Comment
Mercury, the innermost planet of our humble little solar system , is getting itself an orbital friend. The MESSENGER space probe (known as ME rcury S urface, S pace EN vironment, GE ochemistry and R anging to his nearest and dearest) is concluding a six-year sojourn through the dark void of space with an elliptical orbit around the tiny and otherwise inhospitable planet. Systems are about to get turned on and fully checked next week, before the data-gathering phase kicks off in earnest on April 4th. Science, isn’t it beautiful? NASA’s MESSENGER begins orbit around Mercury, will start beaming back science early next month originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The dual-core Sandy Bridge laptops have arrived! Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Sony start shipping systems
March 19, 2011 No Comment
If your eyes have been glued to Engadget this week, you’ve noticed that there have been quite a few new laptops unveiled. Sure, Samsung’s rail-thin Series 9 stole a lot of the glory, but Dell and ASUS also rolled out a few new Intel Sandy Bridge systems. But something else big happened this week in the portable computer world — a good number of the dual-core Sandy Bridge systems finally started shipping to you laptop-loving people. Wait, but didn’t that happen back at CES? Not quite: while Intel announced the availability of Sandy Bridge back in January , it only started to ship its quad-core chips — now all the dual-core Core i3, i5, and i7s are ready and so are the systems that house ‘em. We’ve gathered a list of the rigs that are now up for order or hitting retailers. Hit that read more link for a breakdown, and start deciding if you need some fresh dual-core power in your life. Continue reading The dual-core Sandy Bridge laptops have arrived! Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Sony start shipping systems The dual-core Sandy Bridge laptops have arrived! Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Sony start shipping systems originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Vimpelcom moves forward with $6 billion Wind Mobile merger, intends to hurdle regulatory snags
March 19, 2011 No Comment
If you thought Verizon Wireless and Alltel’s marriage underwent a good bit of scrutiny, you’ll soon be swearing that Vimpelcom and Wind Mobile are on some sort of global watch list. The Amsterdam-based Vimpelcom has taken a giant leap towards the completion of a $6 billion merger with Wind Telecom , the latter of which has around 117 million subscribers spread across Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, North Korea and Canada. If and when the two link hands, the combined effort will be home to a staggering 173 million customers, creating the fifth largest mobile operator by subscriber count. Wind Mobile’s head honcho seems more than enthused about the news, and he’s hoping that the tie-up will allow prices to sink for just about everyone involved. Claiming feats such as “more access to international cooperation for roaming and long distance services” and the ability to utilize “more leverage and increased scale” to drive down prices, Anthony Lacavera isn’t showing any public signs of worry when it comes to regulatory hurdles. In months past, the CRTC took issue with Globalive Wireless — operator of Wind Mobile — starting up in Canada, primarily due to the company’s largest lender (Orascom) residing outside of the Great White North. As of now, things seem to be sailing right along, but you can bet this marriage won’t be formally recognized before a borderline-obnoxious amount of investigating goes down behind the scenes. [Thanks, Kelvin] Vimpelcom moves forward with $6 billion Wind Mobile merger, intends to hurdle regulatory snags originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Some Thunderbolt MacBook Pros causing flicker on Cinema Displays, Apple investigates (video)
March 19, 2011 No Comment
In a world of sophisticated electronics these days, there’s always risks to being an early adopter . Alas, it appears that our latest victims are owners of Apple’s Thunderbolt-laden MacBook Pros. Since launch, a number of frustrated customers have been reporting that their new unibody laptops — of all three sizes — are causing random flicker on both 24-inch and 27-inch Cinema Displays when connected via their Mini DisplayPort / Thunderbolt combo port, and now we have video proof to share the pain. Some also confirmed that even replacement machines from Apple are exhibiting the same behavior, though a source of ours says this doesn’t seem to be a widespread issue, and that the company’s hardware engineers are already looking into this. Either way, we’re likely to see a firmware fix for this bug soon — it’s no good having a large monitor constantly blinking at you. One more video after the break. [Thanks, Armando] Continue reading Some Thunderbolt MacBook Pros causing flicker on Cinema Displays, Apple investigates (video) Some Thunderbolt MacBook Pros causing flicker on Cinema Displays, Apple investigates (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Sure, it may all just be an elaborate scheme to get you to buy more Red Bull, but it is a fairly ingenious scheme. In addition to a plethora of in-game advertising, the new Red Bull racing game for iOS devices also has an augmented reality component that lets you build tracks simply by lining up actual cans of Red Bull on the floor — at least twelve of them for a complete track, and only Red Bull will do, apparently. Not surprisingly, the game itself is free, and you can grab it in the App Store right now to try it out for yourself. Or you can just head on past the break for a video demonstration if you’d prefer to leave the Red Bull on the shelf. Continue reading Red Bull Augmented Racing game lets you build tracks with Red Bull cans Red Bull Augmented Racing game lets you build tracks with Red Bull cans originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …webOS 2.1 SDK now available to all comers, teases ‘big push’ for Veer launch
March 19, 2011 No Comment
Though webOS 2.1 has already gone out to Pre 2s (and a handful of Pre Pluses ) around the globe, developers not included in HP’s NDA-protected Early Access Program have been shut out of the latest version of the SDK — until now. That’s right: any old riffraff coming in off the street now have access to the webOS 2.1 SDK download, featuring Exhibition enhancements, “hybrid” app support for packages that span HTML, JavaScript, and C / C++, and JavaScript-based webOS service development capability. In its blog post announcing the move, HP makes specific mention of the Pixi , saying that those apps will “just work” on the Veer — in other words, if you’d been avoiding developing for the smaller screen resolution before, you’ve got newfound impetus to start now since the company is planning a “big push” around the Veer’s release that’s “coming just around the corner.” Of course, it’s the TouchPad that’s got everyone really fired up in Palm land right now… but you’ve got to start somewhere. webOS 2.1 SDK now available to all comers, teases ‘big push’ for Veer launch originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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All we really knew about Fujifilm’s FinePix X100 was that its looks (and pricetag) could kill, but Photography Blog has discovered that the gorgeous magnesium machine takes fantastic photographs too. You won’t actually be able to see any of them at this very moment — as it seems the website’s images are down — but the publication liberally praised the sharpness and lack of noise afforded by that F2 Fujinon lens, calling the X100 “right up there with the best APS-C sensor cameras on the market” in terms of image quality, and with “the best build quality of any camera that we’ve ever tested,” too. Strong words, to be sure, but the camera’s not without its quirks, including an obvious one — that 23mm lens is fixed to the camera’s front. Without a zoom, you’ll need to get up close and personal with your subjects to get that perfect shot, and yet it also lacks a mechanical focus ring (it’s a focus-by-wire affair here), which can make it difficult to quickly get your bokeh on. The publication remarks that both autofocus and manual focus are fairly slow, there’s no manual option at all when recording videos, and focusing macro shots requires switching to a separate mode that switches off the the optical viewfinder. Still, if you weren’t sold at first sight, you probably are now. Kiss your tax refund goodbye , folks — it’s been spoken for. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Fujifilm FinePix X100 reviewed: a stunning shooter through and through originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung’s Central Station wireless monitor appears in Europe as SyncMaster C27A750
March 19, 2011 No Comment
Back when we first laid eyes on Samsung’s Central Station , we were excited by its wireless docking capabilities, and now it looks like the company’s ready to let the monitor loose on European soil, albeit with a decidedly less American moniker. The SyncMaster C27A750, a 27-inch affair, uses Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology via a USB dongle to connect to your laptop. It touts a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and sports HDMI, VGA, and USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports. The new SyncMaster will hit Europe by the end of April for about €600, but we’ve yet to hear anything about Central Station’s ETA — very sneaky, Samsung… very sneaky. Samsung’s Central Station wireless monitor appears in Europe as SyncMaster C27A750 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Super Mario reimagined as a first-person game, conquers the castle of our hearts (video)
March 19, 2011 No Comment
You’ve seen Super Mario evolve from a modest 2D sprite into a 3D world-exploring superhero mechanic, but have you ever seen life through his eyes? Here’s your opportunity, as a fanmade animation treats us to a first-person view of the intrepid Italian’s adventures through the familiar World 1-1. There are kill streaks, achievements like “headbanger” and “pole dancer,” and some extremely realistic sound effects to set the mood. The priceless video follows after the break. Continue reading Super Mario reimagined as a first-person game, conquers the castle of our hearts (video) Super Mario reimagined as a first-person game, conquers the castle of our hearts (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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