Nook Color earns its very early, very unofficial Android 3.0 Honeycomb wings
January 28, 2011 No Comment
One of the first things that happens after a new platform emulator breaks loose is that a bunch of hackers far smarter than ourselves get hold of it, tear it apart, and port it to whatever’s convenient. In the case of this week’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb preview, “whatever’s convenient” would be the Nook Color , which reigns as perhaps the cheapest decent-quality Android tablet money can currently buy. Naturally, xda-developers has a thread going on the subject as we speak; the current port is said to be really slow and mostly broken — but then again, that kind of describes the current state of the emulator itself. Good news is that the developer says he plans on working on graphics acceleration to improve performance over the weekend, so with any luck, the Xoom might have some unofficial competition before too long. Follow the break for another shot. [Thanks, s30zgt] Continue reading Nook Color earns its very early, very unofficial Android 3.0 Honeycomb wings Nook Color earns its very early, very unofficial Android 3.0 Honeycomb wings originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …UN: worldwide internet users hit two billion, cellphone subscriptions top five billion
January 28, 2011 No Comment
The UN’s International Telecommunication Union predicted last fall that the number of internet users worldwide would hit two billion by the end of 2010, and it’s now issued its full report that confirms just that — 2.08 billion, to be specific. As the ITU’s Hamadoun Toure notes, that number represents a huge leap from the mere 250 million internet users that existed a decade ago, and it means that roughly one third of the world’s population now has internet access of some sort — of those, 555 million have a fixed broadband subscription, and 950 million have mobile broadband. Just as impressive as that (if not moreso), are the number of cellphone subscriptions worldwide, which has now crossed the five billion mark. That’s up from 500 million at the beginning of the year 2000, although the agency notes that it’s only accounted for “subscriptions,” and not individual users. Any way you slice it, however, that’s quite a record of growth for the first decade of the 21st century. UN: worldwide internet users hit two billion, cellphone subscriptions top five billion originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …White House backs plan to reserve 700MHz ‘D Block’ for public safety network
January 28, 2011 No Comment
Public safety agencies in the US have been pushing for some time to have the so-called ‘ D Block ‘ portion of the 700MHz wireless spectrum all to themselves , and it looks like they can now officially count on the support of the White House in that effort. The Obama administration announced today that it’s backing plans to reserve the airwaves — estimated to be worth $3 billion if they were auctioned off — for a new national public safety network, and it also plans to ask Congress to approve the additional spending needed to actually build out the network, which the FCC estimates could cost as much as $15 billion. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the fate of the proposed network is now largely in the hands of House Republicans, who remain divided on the plan — although some key members have come out in support of it in recent days. White House backs plan to reserve 700MHz ‘D Block’ for public safety network originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Thought Honeycomb was just for tablets? Sure, tablets might be Google’s main thrust with the release, but we’ve been able to dig up enough evidence in the preview SDK’s emulator released yesterday to suggest that these guys are still keeping their eyes on the smartphone prize. Here’s how it works: the emulator can be set to load at an arbitrary screen resolution. By default, that’s WXGA, 1280 x 768 — perfect for tablets, but obviously a wee bit large for even the biggest smartphones. Well, it turns out that setting the emulator to WVGA (like you might find on a modern mid- to high-end smartphone) triggers a moderately different shell UI that lacks most of the whiz-bang home screen stuff Google’s shown on the Honeycomb tablets. In fact, the default launcher crashes out entirely, which means you need to install a replacement (Launcher Pro works nicely) just to play around. Once you get in, it’s pretty raw, but you immediately notice that the emulator’s got some traces of smartphone support. Notably, the status bar reverts to a more smartphone-friendly form, albeit one with pre- Gingerbread background coloration and incorrectly-inverted font colors. The lock screen (pictured above) is back to its old form, not the webOS -esque circular lock in the Honeycomb tablet UI. The browser — which has been completely revamped in Honeycomb — works, though without visible tabs; Google might be thinking that they’d take up too much real estate on a screen this small. Again, you can’t glean much here, but it’s interesting primarily because the emulator knows to revert to a smartphone UI layout at the lower resolution — a possible sign that Honeycomb will be a dual-mode, dual-purpose platform. And even if it isn’t, it looks like they’re setting themselves up for a two-UI strategy down the road. Gallery: Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support [Thanks, Andrew] Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’d been hearing rumors that a next-gen Flip camera with WiFi would hit sometime in the first half of the year, and what’s this? A new Flip video camera with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n WiFi just popped up in the FCC database. Based on the shape of the FCC label, the location of the HDMI port, and the M3260 model number, it definitely looks like a member of the Mino family, but that’s really all we know — although if we had to bet, the 5GHz support is there so it can beam movies to the FlipShare TV . We’ll see, we’ll see. Flip Mino HD with 802.11n WiFi hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Razer trots out mildly overhauled DeathAdder Black Edition USB gaming mouse
January 28, 2011 No Comment
When you’ve got a good thing rolling, why stop? That’s the mantra applied to Razer’s latest, which is actually the third DeathAdder to be released. You may remember the original slinking out way back in 2006 , with the southpaws in attendance finally getting one of their own in March of last year. Today, in order to celebrate the device’s Wood Anniversary, Razer’s loosing the USB-connected DeathAdder Black Edition. For all intents and purposes, this is the same DeathAdder that we came to love last decade, but with an ever-so-slightly tweaked design that adds non-slip rubber sides and an all-black finish. It’ll ship globally next month for $59.99 / €59.99, with orders being taken right… about.. now. Gallery: Razer DeathAdder Black Edition USB gaming mouse Continue reading Razer trots out mildly overhauled DeathAdder Black Edition USB gaming mouse Razer trots out mildly overhauled DeathAdder Black Edition USB gaming mouse originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The world of Google APIs and developer tools can be a confusing one, but the company has now at least brought a bit of order to the chaos with its own take on the periodic table of the elements . As you can see above, Android occupies the top spot normally reserved for hydrogen in the actual periodic table, and the remaining APIs and developer products are all grouped into their appropriate categories — and, of course, linked to their respective websites. Hit up the link below to check out the table in its interactive form. Visualized: Google’s periodic table of APIs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Been feeling down this cold and dreary January? Well, let Motorola “introduce” you to its new smartphone! The CES conqueror we already know as the Atrix 4G has received its first promo video from the mothership, highlighting its laptop and HD multimedia docks (giving us a decent peek at the docked UI for both), dual-core processor and related gaming credentials , and, of course, that gorgeous qHD screen resolution on the handset itself. It’s all set to a very uplifting soundtrack, connoting all the beautiful opportunity and potential that our collective smartphone future holds. [Thanks, engadgeteer] Continue reading Motorola lifts our spirits with new Atrix 4G video Motorola lifts our spirits with new Atrix 4G video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Electric cars need big ‘ol batteries, like the Model S pack shown above, and while we’ve seen time and again that those cells hold up better than expected for years, eventually they’re going to need to be decommissioned. What happens then? Tesla already has a recycling program in the US and now it’s detailing plans for a similar program in Europe in partnership with Umicore. Tesla’s packs are now eligible for Umicore’s “Closed Loop” process, disassembling them to remove easily re-used components and then refining the rest of the cell constituents into things like lithium cobalt oxide, which can be used in other batteries, and other various byproducts that can be used in cement or as fill. The whole process of breaking down and extracting all the components is actually profitable, so hopefully Euro drivers won’t get hit with any pricey Roadster disposal fees when they trade up to a Model S. Tesla details Closed Loop battery recycling program for Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Lockheed Martin’s CHIL blends motion capture with VR, creates zombie engineers (video)
January 28, 2011 No Comment
Computer-aided design is a great way to build products, but does it let you bust a funky move while wearing some crazy glasses and gloves? Heck no. You need Lockheed Martin’s CHIL for that. It’s the Collaborative Human Immersive Laboratory, virtual reality goggles and gloves combined with motion capture enabling teams of engineers to work together in a virtual space. You can see it in action below, used first for installing polygonal munitions into a rendered version of one of the company’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, then for doing a little VR tai chi. A Lockheed rep promises that this enables the team to ensure the plane can be more easily and affordably maintained, but we just see this as high-tech training tool for the company’s world-renowned synchronized dance teams. Continue reading Lockheed Martin’s CHIL blends motion capture with VR, creates zombie engineers (video) Lockheed Martin’s CHIL blends motion capture with VR, creates zombie engineers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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