Ohio Girl Scouts accepting mobile payments for cookies, your thin mint craving starts now
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Short on cash but wishing you could stock up on Girl Scout cookies? Then you no longer have an excuse — at least if you’re in Northeast Ohio — and as the local Girl Scout group there has teamed up with Intuit to accept credit cards using the company’s GoPayment app (and accompanying card reader) for iOS and Android. What’s more, while the Ohio group is the first to sign up, Intuit is now also extending the same offer (which includes reduced transaction fees) to Girl Scout organizations across the US — something tells us it won’t have much trouble getting attracting interest. Continue reading Ohio Girl Scouts accepting mobile payments for cookies, your thin mint craving starts now Ohio Girl Scouts accepting mobile payments for cookies, your thin mint craving starts now originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Sprint allegedly talking to LightSquared over 4G infrastructure deal, Clearwire should be sweating
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Bloomberg is citing “three people familiar with the talks” (it’s not often that we get a specific number!) as saying that LightSquared is in active negotiations with Sprint to use its network infrastructure as it builds out its L-band LTE network. As you might recall, LightSquared is the would-be 4G wholesaler that is in the process of repurposing some satellite spectrum for terrestrial LTE use — a concept the FCC has approved , but concerns over GPS interference could end up delaying or derailing the strategy altogether if they aren’t solved to everyone’s satisfaction. Of course, building out any sort of national terrestrial wireless network is a multi-billion dollar, multi-year type of venture, and presumably a tie-up with Sprint to use some of its hardware would help move matters along. What this means for Sprint’s existing dealings with Clearwire is unclear; the two operate a WiMAX network together, after all, but the carrier has made it clear in the past that LTE could definitely be an option in the future. Sprint allegedly talking to LightSquared over 4G infrastructure deal, Clearwire should be sweating originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We just got our new 15-inch MacBook Pro review unit, and although it looks almost exactly the same as the previous MBP, it has that fancy new ThunderBolt icon on the side, which ought to make I/O nerd hearts flutter the world over. Unfortunately, there aren’t any ThunderBolt peripherals on the market yet, so we can’t really test the new connection yet, but we can report that backwards compatibility with Mini DisplayPort performs as advertised and that all of our display adapters worked without issue — the first time we can ever remember Apple switching a standard and not requiring all new dongles. As for performance, we were given the $2,199 configuration with a 2.2GHz quad-core Sandy Bridge Core i7, discrete AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics, 4GB of RAM and a 750GB HD, which clocked a preliminary GeekBench score of 9647. We’ll have tons more testing in our full review, including detailed comparisons of the discrete chip with Intel’s new integrated HD Graphics 3000. Apple did give us a quick demo on the new system with a prototype Promise RAID unit and a stock Cinema Display connected over ThunderBolt — remember, ThunderBolt just uses a Mini DisplayPort connector, so displays can be daisy-chained right in. Apple’s demo was a variation of the same thing Intel’s been doing for a while — they played four uncompressed HD video streams off the RAID simultaneously, which pegged the ThunderBolt throughput meter at 600-700MBps. We also watched a 5GB file transfer in just a few seconds — all very impressive, but we’re definitely anxious to try some of this stuff ourselves once ThunderBolt devices start shipping sometime in the spring. Apple also told us that ThunderBolt is running on copper and not optical cables (like the Light Peak protoypes) so that it can support bus-powered devices — there’s 10 watts of power available on the bus, up slightly from FireWire’s 8 watts. Up to six devices can be daisy-chained from one port, and since ThunderBolt is based on PCI Express, it can even support FireWire and USB adapters. That’s great news for the future of the interface, but the MacBook Pro still has two USB 2.0 and one FireWire 800 port, so it’s not of critical importance right this second. We’ll have much, much more in our full review — check back in a few days! Gallery: MacBook Pro (early 2011) unboxing and hands-on MacBook Pro (early 2011) with ThunderBolt hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …IMEC creates flexible microprocessor with organic semiconductors — computational clothing right around the corner
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Organic semiconductors have been teasing us with the possibility of computationally-inclined clothing for years, but until now we could only dream about our pants being the computer. That dream is closer to reality than ever, as researchers from IMEC have created a cheap (potentially 1/10th the cost of silicon chips), bendable microprocessor by layering a plastic substrate, gold circuits, organic dielectric, and a pentacene organic semiconductor to create an 8-bit logic circuit with 4000 transistors. Executing 6 instructions per second, these things won’t be challenging Watson any time soon, but the chips should prove useful in creating cheaper flexible displays and sensors to tell us whether that week-old chicken in the fridge has gone bad. The trick was to overcome individual organic transistors’ variable switching voltage thresholds — as opposed to silicon’s predictable nature — that eliminated the possibility of organic-based logic circuits previously. But by adding a second gate to each transistor, IMEC was able to control the electrical field in each to prevent unwanted switching and usher in the dawn of plastic processors. The zenith of nerd fashion can’t be far behind. IMEC creates flexible microprocessor with organic semiconductors — computational clothing right around the corner originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 11:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NEC’s razor-thin MEDIAS N-04C Android launched in Japan, gets carefully manhandled
February 24, 2011 No Comment
We’ve already seen product shots of the crazy thin, drool-inducing NEC MEDIAS N-04C, but for a product boasting the “world’s thinnest” title, it’s always useful to see comparison shots for the sake of our curiosity. Thankfully, the good folks over at Akihabara News were present at DoCoMo’s launch event, and they were able to get up close to inspect this 7.7mm-thin Android 2.2 handset (with Android 2.3 upgrade available around July). It’s pretty amazing considering all the goodies packed within this phone — here’s a quick recap: NFC, 1seg TV Tuner, infrared port, 5 megapixel camera, 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 chip, etc. Oh, and this phone uses Gorilla Glass , too. If you happen to reside in Japan — which is where it’ll remain exclusive to — you’ll be able to pick up this NEC in black or white flavor on March 15, though price has yet to be announced. Video after the break, and more hands-on photos over at Akihabara News . Continue reading NEC’s razor-thin MEDIAS N-04C Android launched in Japan, gets carefully manhandled NEC’s razor-thin MEDIAS N-04C Android launched in Japan, gets carefully manhandled originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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While you may not realize it, Mr. Peanut’s been cruising around in the same ride for decades. Maybe even centuries. Regardless of the specifics, one thing has become abundantly clear to the higher-ups at Planters — dude needs a new ride, STAT. As the story goes, 2011 will be the year that the Nutmobile sees a much-needed revamp, with the refreshed model to be based around a 2011 Isuzu NPR diesel truck. Inside of the crunchy shell, it’s been outfitted with five percent biodiesel , a smattering of solar panels and a wind turbine, not to mention a bank of batteries. Sickening as it may seem, Mr. Peanut will be murdering a few of his own just to get down the street, with “a small amount” of peanut oil being mixed in with a number of other vegetable and cooking oils. So much for that happy-go-lucky front, huh? Visualized: Planters gifts Mr. Peanut with a new biodiesel-fueled ride originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Barnes & Noble says Nook owns one quarter of US e-book market, we don’t doubt it
February 24, 2011 No Comment
There are many players in the e-reader world, but few have managed to gain any sort of traction. Though it hasn’t achieved Kindle levels of success Barnes & Noble is taking pride in saying that its Nook series of readers has conquered 25 percent of the US e-book market. The company doesn’t cite any specific sales figures to back up that number, but we’ll go with it. Sadly, though, there’s another 25 percent number that is detailed and isn’t nearly so positive: that’s how much the company’s profits dropped from this period last year. That was said to be due to heavy investments in the Nook but, despite that, B&N managed to post a $60.6 million profit — certainly better than some of the competition . Barnes & Noble says Nook owns one quarter of US e-book market, we don’t doubt it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics, Thunderbolt I/O tech, and FaceTime HD cameras
February 24, 2011 No Comment
Come on, you knew this was coming ! Oh yes, Apple’s pulling the curtain off its new MacBook Pro family , and compared to the last refresh cycle , there are a serious amount of updates. Just as we had heard all three will be getting new Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors , AMD Radeon HD 6000M graphics (bye bye, NVIDIA !), FaceTime HD cameras, and some super fast Thunderbolt I/O transfer speeds . There are two new 13-inchers, two 15.4-inch versions, and one lone 17-inch model. How much will they cost you and what are the exact specs? You’ll want to hit the jump for all of that and the official press release. Gallery: Apple MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt Continue reading Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics, Thunderbolt I/O tech, and FaceTime HD cameras Apple refreshes MacBook Pro family with Sandy Bridge processors, AMD graphics, Thunderbolt I/O tech, and FaceTime HD cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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So it’s perhaps not the most original moniker that Apple and Intel could have chosen, but it’s here just the same. After years of waiting Apple has launched its implementation of Intel’s Light Peak standard and it’s called Thunderbolt. It’s making its appearance on new MacBook Pro models and it’s promising 10Gb/second transfer rates. That’s dual-channel, too so you’ll get 10Gb/sec both to and from your devices. Apple suggests this will be useful for external RAID arrays, Gigabit Ethernet adapters, and also mentions support for “FireWire and USB consumer devices” along with HDMI, DVI, and VGA over DisplayPort. Apple expects that Thunderbolt will be “widely adopted as a new standard for high performance I/O,” but we think the USB 3.0 crew might have a thing or two to say about that. Full PR is embedded below. Update : Intel has thrown up its page on the technology, and it looks like the Light Peak name is officially no more. Intel indicates this speed will be enough to transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds — but doesn’t indicate the bitrate of said film. Intel also reinforces that this is compatible with existing DisplayPort devices and it also uses the PCI Express protocol for enhanced compatibility. Daisy-chaining will be possible, along with bus-powered devices, and cables can be made using either optical or electrical construction. Continue reading Apple and Intel unveil Thunderbolt I/O technology Apple and Intel unveil Thunderbolt I/O technology originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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While we’re still a good few months away from OS X Lion’s official debut, Apple’s just released a developer preview for those itching to get their hands dirty on this forthcoming major OS release. Alas, you have to be a Mac Developer Program member in order to obtain this goodie from the Mac App Store, so this isn’t a bad time to get friendly with your Mac developer pals. Press release after the break. Continue reading Apple pushes out Mac OS X Lion developer preview via Mac App Store Apple pushes out Mac OS X Lion developer preview via Mac App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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