Sure, you followed along with our Tokyo liveblog and breathless posts announcing Sony’s Next Generation Portable (codename: NGP , get it?) successor to the PSP. But nothing’s quite like viewing a video posted 48-hours after the event to get a true feel for the historic occasion… historic to nerds like us anyway. The power is now in your hands — use it wisely to watch a thrilling three-part trilogy after the break. More videos at the source link below. Continue reading Sony’s official NGP announcement video hits the web Sony’s official NGP announcement video hits the web originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Layar’s been the go-to platform for augmented reality on Android since 2009, bringing you the useful, the creepy , and the just plain weird — and now it’s unleashing the beast on iOS. The Netherlands-based company just launched Layar Player, a free tool that allows anyone — with a little developer know-how — to create their very own AR iPhone app. Accompanying the announcement are three brand new Layar Player-enabled apps: the Bing-sponsored Snowboard Hero, which incorporates a special AR mode for collecting points; a contractor locator called Layer Trade; and VerbeterdeBuurt, an app that acts as an AR community bulletin board. The company’s press release touts the “democratization of augmented reality,” and while we can get behind their AR-for-alll message, we’ve already seen Layar used in ways that give us the willies . Don’t get us wrong, we’re still excited about the endless AR possibilities, but we’re hoping, at least for now, that iPhone app developers can keep the AR monsters at bay. Continue reading Layar Player lets AR loose on iPhone apps Layar Player lets AR loose on iPhone apps originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Study shocker! Mobile users piddle around on the internet while watching TV
January 29, 2011 No Comment
Shocker of shockers , folks: people do more than just watch TV when they’re watching TV. A study of over 8,000 willing individuals from Nielsen and Yahoo recently discovered that some 86 percent of mobile internet users tinker around on their devices while situated in front of the tube. It seems that Googling random facts, checking their Facebook news feed and seeing who has tweeted in the past 30 seconds were atop the list of activities to do while watching, but strangely, a full 20 percent confessed to search for more information about a commercial they recently saw. Hit the source link below (PDF) to be instantly bombarded with facts and figures, but first, refresh that TweetCaster feed. Ah, so much better. Study shocker! Mobile users piddle around on the internet while watching TV originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black priced at €499 by Amazon Germany, not yet available to buy
January 29, 2011 No Comment
Guten Morgen , LG! Amazon’s German outlet has this morning started listing LG’s two latest and undoubtedly greatest phones: the Optimus 2X (seemingly renamed the Optimus Speed here) and the Optimus Black . Both run Android 2.2 on 4-inch screens, with the former offering a dual-core Tegra 2 processor capable of 1080p video recording and HDMI output , and the latter cranking up the display brightness to a quite unreasonable 700 nits. The Optimus Black also has one of the thinnest profiles on a smartphone of its class at 9.2mm, and will be one of the first phones to offer WiFi Direct connectivity . Intriguingly, Amazon’s Optimus Speed / 2X listing also shows a brown color option for the handset, though only its black SKU is subject to a neat €50 discount bringing its price to €499, the same as the cost of the Optimus Black. We don’t know when either one will drop, but you can go and reserve yourself one (or a dozen) at the links below. [Thanks, Julian] Continue reading LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black priced at €499 by Amazon Germany, not yet available to buy LG Optimus 2X and Optimus Black priced at €499 by Amazon Germany, not yet available to buy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 05:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Verizon turns on iPhone 4 pre-order countdown, existing customers can order on February 3rd at 3AM
January 29, 2011 No Comment
The grapevine did already hint at the timing of the Verizon iPhone 4 pre-orders, but now, to be absolutely sure nobody misses them, we have a countdown ! Eager iPhone bandwagon jumpers will have to stay up till 3AM EST on February 3rd to get their orders in from a “reserved quantity” of handsets, which will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis — presumably to be delivered on that February 10th launch date everyone’s been anticipating for so long. Sadly for Verizon newcomers, a contract with the network will be a prerequisite for signing up when the countdown expires. [Thanks, Jarrett and Anthony] Continue reading Verizon turns on iPhone 4 pre-order countdown, existing customers can order on February 3rd at 3AM Verizon turns on iPhone 4 pre-order countdown, existing customers can order on February 3rd at 3AM originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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You can rest assured that hundreds — if not trillions — of new laptops will be rolling off of production lines this quarter with Intel’s Sandy Bridge platform inside, and those looking for a little love over in Japan won’t have to wait much longer. Panasonic has just updated its Let’s Note line with four new Sandy Bridge models: the B10, S10, N10 and J10 have all been blessed with new silicon. The B10 in particular ships with a Core i5-2520M, 4GB of memory, a 15.6-inch 1080p display, HDMI output, Blu-ray drive, SDXC card slot and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. The N10 and S10 are outfitted in similar fashion, while the J10 goes diminutive with a 10.1-inch panel. There’s also a higher-end J10Q variant that steps up to a Core i5, 128GB SSD, 2GB of RAM, WiFi, HDMI output, inbuilt WiMAX model and an SDXC slot, with the craziest aspect being the claimed 12 hours of battery life. Hit the links below if you’re hungry for pricing clues and ship dates, but it looks as if the whole gang should be out and about by the close of March. Panasonic adds Sandy Bridge to Let’s Note J10, N10, S10 and B10 laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Cella Energy says its hydrogen microbeads could fuel your car, cost $1.50 per gallon
January 28, 2011 No Comment
Your average hydrogen-powered car is a marvel of modern science — fuel cell sifting electrons out of pure H2 and emitting nothing but water — powered by big, heavy, high-pressure tanks of gas. Cella Energy is here to ditch the tank, having first developed a means of storing hydrogen in microfibers that could greatly simplify the design of these vehicles. But, perhaps even more impressive is a “synthetic fuel” the company is working on which is, essentially, pure hydrogen captured into microbeads. You know, like the kind that float in your shampoo and give your hair that extra lustre, but explosive. According to Cella these beads can be poured into the gas tank of a car with an internal combustion engine (presumably suspended in some sort of liquid) and, with no modification, that car will run just fine. Best news is that this concoction costs just $1.50 per gallon — or will, eventually. Supposedly. Maybe? Cella Energy says its hydrogen microbeads could fuel your car, cost $1.50 per gallon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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With Microsoft planning a move away from the HTPC space and a shift to Windows Media Center embedded products, perhaps the gang at Moovida is looking to take Redmond’s place in the home theater geek segment. The company has unleashed a beautiful new media browsing UI called ‘Immersed’ that’s powered by a 3D game engine, a fact which makes its media center bretheren look dowdy in comparison. There is a steep price to pay for this digital eye candy, however, as the current version lacks the ability to stream content — so no Netflix, Hulu, or YouTube for you. Moovida’s software also packs an underlying desktop-optimized UI, ‘Core’, that provides automated media backup and cataloging, syncs your music and video with peripherals, and plays any non-DRM content known to man. Presently in beta, Moovida promises greater functionality in future releases and we can only hope that means streaming capability is coming soon, as in immediately . Moovida’s new media center software has great looks, so-so personality originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Watch Pro Bowl practice through Michael Vick’s eyes — and his ContourHD 1080p helmet cam
January 28, 2011 No Comment
This weekend’s NFL Pro Bowl might be one of the more useless spectacles in American sport, but since there’s nothing at stake, the NFC coaches allowed Michael Vick to strap a ContourHD 1080p camera to his helmet during practice — and the resulting few moments of footage are pretty awesome, if you’re a football fan. We gave the 1080p a pretty decent review , and it certainly delivers here: you get to watch Vick break the huddle, fire off a pass to Jason Witten, hand off to Adrian Peterson, and run a play-action to Witten, all the while exchanging some friendly banter with Matt Ryan and Drew Brees. It might actually be more interesting than the Pro Bowl itself, actually. Now if only the NFL would let Aaron Rodgers wear one of these during the Packers’ inevitable Super Bowl victory, we’d be happy as clams. Watch Pro Bowl practice through Michael Vick’s eyes — and his ContourHD 1080p helmet cam originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Had enough Honeycomb this week? Perhaps — but next week is a whole new week, and Google’s got your back. Mountain View has selected Wednesday, February 2nd for an event that’ll include “an in-depth look at Honeycomb, Android ecosystem news and hands-on demos,” so by all accounts this seems to be more than a mere wrap-up of everything they’ve announced in the past few weeks. New tablets? Honeycomb for smartphones ? Android 2.4 ? Something else entirely? We’ll be there to find out, of course. Google announces Android event for February 2nd originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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