While we wait for the PlayBook to released in its WiFi- and WiMAX-equipped forms over the next few months, RIM’s taking every opportunity it can to talk about the platform — and the latest comes from an interview between FierceDeveloper and the company’s veep of developer relations, Tyler Lessard, who played a prominent role at BlackBerry DevCon ’10 a while back where the PlayBook was first announced. When asked about RIM’s decision to partner up with Sprint and deliver a WiMAX version first before looking at bigger carriers with more broadly-used technologies, Lessard says that they “were really excited about was Sprint’s interest and excitement in coming to the table and working with us on a product like that” — which we take as code for either “they paid us the most” or “no one else bit.” Either way, interesting verbiage to say the least — though he does say that there are other versions in the pipe. On App World , Lessard notes that BlackBerry’s third-party app platform has taken in some 5,000 apps in the last couple months alone — not a big number, necessarily, until you consider that they’re only up to 17,000 total, so they’re definitely seeing some nice growth percentages there. Turning the attention to the perennial question of when QNX will come to smartphones, he basically echoes a sentiment first shared by bossman Lazaridis back at D: Dive Into Mobile : dual-core processors are key, so the new platform won’t filter down until the hardware gets beefier. He says that “we really want to make sure we don’t back-step from that and offer a degraded experience because hardware is not ready or the performance isn’t there,” which is arguably odd wording considering that BlackBerry 6 is already well behind the curve — how much worse could QNX on a single-core 1GHz-plus processor really be? [Thanks, Ben] RIM exec talks PlayBook, App World, QNX on phones, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
We’ve just seen what AMD’s Fusion platform can do for a laptop, and it looks like we’ll soon also be seeing it in a lot more devices — AMD has just announced its new Fusion-based Embedded G-Series platform, which can be used for things like set-top boxes, in-car computers, small form factor PCs, and more. That platform include the low-power x86 “Bobcat” core we’ve seen all along and a “world-class” DirectX 11-capable GPU, which AMD says adds up to a level of advanced computing that simply isn’t available in the embedded market today. Among the first products based on the platform to be announced are a pair of Mini-ATX boards from Fujitsu and three SFF systems from Kontron, which will be joined by a range of other products from various manufacturers that are expected to launch in the “coming weeks.” Head on past the break for the complete press release, plus a video of a G-Series-based car computer that AMD was demoing at CES. Continue reading AMD announces Fusion-based Embedded G-Series platform AMD announces Fusion-based Embedded G-Series platform originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Immediately following its big 3DS price and release date unveiling , Nintendo had on hand dozens of new titles playing on what we’d surmise is final hardware (or at least near-final, given its February 27th Japanese launch). Our first hands-on experience was just over six months ago during E3, at which point we were very impressed with what we saw. Did this playthrough garner the same excitement? Have our decidedly older but not much wiser selves become jaded by the novelty of it all? Venture on after the break to find out. Gallery: Nintendo 3DS hands-on and impressions Continue reading Nintendo 3DS in-depth preview, slight return (update: more videos!) Nintendo 3DS in-depth preview, slight return (update: more videos!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HP files for ‘HP Touchpad’ trademark — a possible name for the webOS tablet?
January 19, 2011 No Comment
We can’t conclusively link this to the upcoming Palm tablets , but HP just filed for a trademark on “HP Touchpad” across a wide variety of products and services ranging from memory cards to — dun dun dun — “tablet computers.” We’re liking it as a tablet name, though — we’ve been getting the sense that the Palm name is on the way out, and “HP Touchpad” jibes nicely with the conspicuous lack of Palm branding on the invite for HP’s Feburary 9th webOS event . What’s more, HP’s already invested heavily in branding its laptop trackpads with the ClickPad name, so this seems like something else entirely. We’ve definitely come across headfake trademark registrations in the past, so we’ll see what’s going on here — and whether this slow trickle of leaks ever turns into a flood. HP files for ‘HP Touchpad’ trademark — a possible name for the webOS tablet? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Sandwiched rather tightly between Sprint on the 7th and HP / Palm on the 9th , Dell just sent out an email blast that it’s planning an event out in the City by the Bay for the 8th of next month. Hard to say whether this’ll be tablets or just buttoned-up laptops and PCs, though, because the graphics starts out with “Dell Means Business” and goes on to say that they’ll be showing off “a new generation of business computing solutions.” Needless to say, we’ll be there to find out. Dell ‘means business,’ schedules San Francisco event for February 8th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Compulab fit-PC3 offers dual-core AMD power in a case less than an inch thick
January 19, 2011 No Comment
Think tablets will kill off the nettop like they’re doing with the netbook ? Think again — well, for now, at least. Compulab has released details of its latest little powerhouse, and this one’s faster than ever despite being less than an inch thick and about six inches across. Maximum spec sees the insertion of an AMD G-series T56N processor, aka the Fusion Zacate , offering dual cores at 1.6GHz while pulling down 18W TDP, paired with a Radeon HD 6310, the two running cool enough to not need a single fan. (It’s the same basic setup found in the HP Pavilion dm1z we recently reviewed.) There’s up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, room for a 2.5-inch HDD, HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, a whopping six USB 2.0 ports, and even dual eSATA if you need external storage. No word on price just yet but it’s said to be “competitive” compared to its predecessors, like the PC2 , which currently costs between $300 and $700 depending on configuration. Compulab fit-PC3 offers dual-core AMD power in a case less than an inch thick originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
We’d thought the thing were on their way, scoring EPA certification back in December and, in theory, almost ready to roll. Turns out Department of Transportation approval is taking a little longer than anticipated, and so the $32,995, 65mph, 100 mile range cars still aren’t fully road legal. The company has indicated it’s received 500 orders for the things, orders which it hopes to start shipping by the end of this month. Given how many X’s we have on our calendar this month that may prove to be optimistic as well, but still probably more realistic than your chances of getting a Leaf this year . Wheego’s so-called Whip LiFe delayed, supposedly still coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nanoscale ropes braid themselves, tiny sailors still needed to tie tiny knots
January 19, 2011 No Comment
While perhaps not being quite as useful as towels, ropes are might handy things to have. With them you can attach things to other things and, well, that’s really their primary use. But what if those things are small? Really small. You need nanoropes of the sort created at the Molecular Foundry, braids that measure just 600 nanometers in diameter. A sheet of paper? About 100,000 nanometers thick. Perhaps even more interesting than their scale is how they were constructed, formed of polypeptoids that self-assemble into the coiling double helix you see above. Possible uses? Right now this is a part of experiments to create more complex nanoscale structures, but we could totally see them being used to, you know, tie tiny things together. Nanoscale ropes braid themselves, tiny sailors still needed to tie tiny knots originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …T-Mobile intros DriveSmart Plus service to block texting while driving, FamilyWhere to track down your kids
January 19, 2011 No Comment
The texting-while-driving epidemic is starting to get a lot of carrier attention , and T-Mobile’s taking it to the next level today by throwing its weight behind a new subscription-based upgrade to the DriveSmart app that’s been available on the LG Optimus T since launch. DriveSmart Plus runs $4.99 a month for all lines on your account (provided the lines are attached to compatible devices) and upgrades the basic DriveSmart app by automatically detecting when your car’s in motion — no need to enable it by hand — at which point incoming calls are automatically sent to voicemail and incoming text messages are met with an automatic response that the recipient is currently driving. Naturally, there’s an emergency override built-in — but to make sure young drivers aren’t abusing it, DriveSmart offers parents the option of being contacted by text or email when it’s overridden and can let them monitor overall phone usage through a web interface. The service is only available on the Optimus T initially, but more hardware support is “coming soon.” On a related note, T-Mobile is also introducing FamilyWhere, matching similar services already offered by Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint by letting parents see where their young’uns are and set up customized alerts by location and time; it’s apparently compatible with “nearly any type” of phone on the T-Mobile network, so you shouldn’t need to equip the tykes with superphones just to get this action set up. It runs $9.99 a month and covers all the lines on your account; follow the break for both press releases. Continue reading T-Mobile intros DriveSmart Plus service to block texting while driving, FamilyWhere to track down your kids T-Mobile intros DriveSmart Plus service to block texting while driving, FamilyWhere to track down your kids originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
We just came across a neat little iOS app called AirView which, as you can probably tell from the name, transforms your iOS devices into AirPlay video receivers. And since iOS can also output video via AirPlay, this means you can use AirView to either grab AirPlay streams from your computer’s iTunes, or you can stream videos from one iOS device to another (provided that they are both running iOS 4.2 and above, of course). Theoretically, little work is required to get the ball rolling — just launch the app, then play your desired video clip from the source, and finally pick your client device using the AirPlay button. We say theoretically, because it took us awhile to figure out that none of our purchased videos worked, even though AirPlay supports DRM content — the assumption is that AirView lacks the component for receiving authorization key. Alas, we stuck with our, ahem, homemade videos which actually worked very well over both iTunes-to-iOS and iOS-to-iOS connections, although sometimes we had to relaunch AirView and the iPod app to start a new stream. Perhaps some folks will have better luck than us, so feel free to give this app a go — it is free, after all. Video demo after the break. Continue reading App review: AirView App review: AirView originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …