White iPhone 4 purportedly turns up in Best Buy’s inventory system, launching February 27th?
January 18, 2011 No Comment
It’s been a long time coming, but it’s starting to look like things just might be starting to maybe, possibly line up for the white iPhone 4. We saw some inventory shots from Vodafone Germany ourselves yesterday, and now Mac Rumors has turned up a shot of it own that appears to show both 16GB and 32GB versions of the phone in Best Buy’s inventory system in the US. What’s more, these listings also show a specific in-stock date of February 27th and, for what it’s worth, the model numbers match those that first turned up in Best Buy’s system when it was originally taking pre-orders for the difficult-to-manufacture phone. Of course, we still won’t be fully satisfied until we start seeing some actual boxes with white iPhones in them, but here’s hoping we won’t have to wait too much longer for that to happen — Apple still hasn’t pushed back that ” spring 2011 ” date, after all. [Thanks, Micah ] White iPhone 4 purportedly turns up in Best Buy’s inventory system, launching February 27th? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Welcome to the 2010 Engadget Awards ! For your voting (and nominating) pleasure, we present the seventh annual Engadget Awards! The premise is simple: 2010 may have slipped through our fingers, but all the memories of gadgets-past are still with us (some in a more favorable light than others). Here’s your chance to sound off on what you loved in 2010, and tell us what you’re psyched about for 2011. This year we’ve got 24 categories up for grabs, with 48 total awards to be decided. All finalists for Engadget Awards are reader-nominated, and the editors of Engadget will then select the best of those nominations (usually somewhere between 4-6 devices or technologies) as finalists. There are two awards per category, Reader’s Choice (voted on by you!), and Editors’ Choice (selected by us). The vote will take place in a few weeks once the nominees are picked, and winners will be announced shortly thereafter. You can find all the info and nominees on a landing page we’ve built this year which should make it easier to get all your selections in (and vote once we’ve picked the finalists). Just click right here . You’ve got until 11:59PM ET on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 to get your entries in. Now, go nominate, or use the handy list after the break! Continue reading Nominate your favorite gadgets in the 2010 Engadget Awards! Nominate your favorite gadgets in the 2010 Engadget Awards! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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MagicJack has found itself in more than a few contentious confrontations before, and it looks like it’s now landed in another with the Kanawha County Commission in Florida, where its parent company YMAX Communications is based. It’s alleging that MagicJack has failed to collect 911 fees and in turn pay the funds to the county, which relies on the fees to fund its 911 emergency center — or, as Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper succintly puts it, “there’s nothing ‘magic’ about Magic Jack.” For it’s part, the MagicJack insists that it is not a “voice-over-Internet” provider and therefore isn’t required to pay 911 fees, and it further adds that it isn’t even able to collect the fees due to the way its product is sold. We’ll just have to wait and see how well that argument holds up when MagicJack faces the state’s Public Service Commission on March 1st — which, incidentally, has already denied MagicJack’s request to dismiss the case. Florida county commission says MagicJack skipped out on 911 fees originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Netflix removing ‘Add to DVD Queue’ button from TV streamers, execs debate the company’s future
January 18, 2011 No Comment
Still mad over news that Netflix is removing the “Add to DVD Queue” button from media streamers ? Then you’re probably a commenter on the corporate blog but just in case you were wondering, it appears this doesn’t apply to the mobile apps most of us manage our queues with when away from the official site, Netflix PR says it’s just devices that connect to the TV. Curious decisions like this aside, The Hollywood Reporter recently ran a fun story describing what various Hollywood executives make of the company’s chances. For its part the company plans to keep on expanding and adding more content, like the recent deal with ABC/Disney . TBS CEO Phil Kent made a thinly veiled threat to not license any content available on Netflix, while HDNet ‘s Mark Cuban (who recently thought Netflix was set to implode ) subscribes to the opposing camp’s newsletter, saying Netflix is “absolutely a friend to producers and distributors — they are found money that is monetizing library assets as DVD sales fall.” What’s your call? Netflix removing ‘Add to DVD Queue’ button from TV streamers, execs debate the company’s future originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …FCC approves Comcast’s purchase of NBC (Update: Justice Department too, it’s done)
January 18, 2011 No Comment
No huge surprise here, but the FCC just approved Comcast’s purchase of NBC Universal by a 4-1 vote. Details of the ruling aren’t out yet, but FCC chairman Julius Genachowski had been pushing for strong regulations forbidding Comcast from cutting itself sweetheart deals on NBC content or prioritizing its own video traffic on its pipes, so we’d assume that’s part of the agreement here. The only nay vote was from Commissioner Michael Copps, who said the deal “opens the door to the cable-ization of the open Internet.” Ouch. We’ll let you know when we find out exactly what the FCC’s actual conditions are — and keep in mind this deal won’t be wrapped until the Justice Department weighs in, which is expected to happen next week. Can we say it? Oh, we’re going to say it: stay tuned! Update : That was fast, as Comcast/NBCU announced it’s received permission from the Justice Department as wall. Check out the triumphant press release after the break or scour the official site for more details on what conditions may have applied. There will also be a conference call at 4 p.m. so let us know what else you may be interested in finding out before then. So far details include a promise of a “focused mechanism for online video providers to obtain access to certain NBC Universal content,” and that the newly formed entity will retain its economic stake in Hulu, while giving up its voting and board representation rights. Continue reading FCC approves Comcast’s purchase of NBC (Update: Justice Department too, it’s done) FCC approves Comcast’s purchase of NBC (Update: Justice Department too, it’s done) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Two arrests have been made connected to the security breach that exposed thousands of iPad users’ email addresses and other info last year. Daniel Spitler and Andrew Auernheimer (yeah, that guy again) have been taken into custody and charged with conspiracy to access a computer without authorization and fraud, for allegedly using a custom script (built by Spitler) called iPad 3G Account Slurper to access AT&T’s servers, mimic an iPad 3G, and try out random ICC identifiers. Once a valid ICC was found, one could harvest the user’s name and email address. Of course, the hackers maintain that this was all done to force AT&T to close a major security flaw , and we’ll be interested to see what exactly the company does to make things right. Two arrested for iPad security breach originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Oh, hello. A trusted tipster just sent in these internal renders of HP / Palm’s “Topaz” webOS tablet , which is one of two tablets currently being developed in Sunnyvale. That’s right, two tablets: the 9-inch Topaz and a 7-inch model codnamed Opal — a lineup that fits nicely into Palm’s “Something big, Something small, Something beyond” tagline for its upcoming February 9th event . Looking at the render, we’re seeing the no-button design we’d previously heard about (we’re assuming the gesture area rotates with the display), a front-facing camera, a micro USB port on the bottom, and what appears to be a Vizio Tablet-style three speaker arrangement for stereo audio in both landscape and portrait modes — that’s two speakers along the left side and a third on the right. (That’s just a guess, though.) We’d also note the back appears to be a glossy material, which might rule out a giant Touchstone for charging — Touchstone backs have heretofore been soft-touch, but anything can change, we suppose. We’re told that units will start to arrive at Palm HQ in June as production ramps up for launch later this year — a timeline backed up by an internal marketing slide we received that lists WiFi-only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE versions of the Opal arriving in September 2011, and on AT&T LTE in July 2012. The slide also indicates the Opal will have a particular e-reading focus, which makes sense for a 7-inch device, and there’s a mention of “premium audio,” which nicely reinforces our speaker hypothesis. Unfortunately, we don’t have any word on specs or pricing yet, but these things had better be packing some serious heat for cheap if Palm is really planning to wait until September to launch them — they’ll be going head-to-head with the Xoom , the PlayBook , and presumably the iPad 2 . We’re still digging for more, so keep an eye out — things are going to get crazy leading up to February 9th . Gallery: Exclusive: HP / Palm’s webOS tablets — pictures, plans, and more Exclusive: HP / Palm’s webOS tablets — pictures, plans, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Lenovo’s Chinese eBox console suffers delay, here’s how its camera-based games might play (video)
January 18, 2011 No Comment
We had nearly forgotten Lenovo’s Eedoo spinoff and its China-bound video game console , seeing as how it failed to meet a planned November 2010 unveiling, but IDG News reports that the motion-sensing eBox hasn’t slipped Lenovo’s mind — it’s just been pushed further into 2011. How far? If we were to guess, we’d say Q2 2011, and the video above spells out why. Seemingly by coincidence, we were just sent this footage of a game called Flyimal , built on the Unity Engine as a collaboration between 3D asset company Mixamo and 3D gesture recognition company Omek Interactive, and — get this — running on “the first [console] to be made by the Chinese for the Chinese market and due for launch by Q2 of this year.” We can’t think of many game systems that fit that description, to be honest. There’s not a lot to look at here, but we imagine PrimeSense and competitors will be perusing the video soon, noting that the machine captures precisely 15 points on a user’s body for its gesture recognition algorithms… and wondering if there’s a third dimension to any of that movement. Read Unity, Mixamo and Omek’s statement after the break. Continue reading Lenovo’s Chinese eBox console suffers delay, here’s how its camera-based games might play (video) Lenovo’s Chinese eBox console suffers delay, here’s how its camera-based games might play (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Want to meet a bunch of random strangers everywhere you go? Start riding around on a neon green electric bicycle that looks like nothing this world has seen before, something tossed out of a passing UFO that some New Zealand shepherd found glowing slightly as it rested in the middle of a smoking crater. This $3,595 electric bicycle with a 15mph top speed and six mile range does come from New Zealand, but the YikeBike is very much a product of human ingenuity, or so creator Grant Ryan claims, but that doesn’t stop it from giving us a riding experience that is nothing short of other-worldly. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily equate to a entirely perfect experience. Gallery: YikeBike Continue reading YikeBike review YikeBike review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Bloodhound SuperSonic Car begins construction: 1,000mph on Intel Atom processors (video)
January 18, 2011 No Comment
We saw the mockup back in July and, soon, we’ll be seeing the real thing. Construction of the Bloodhound SSC is underway, with a planned top speed of over 1,000mph courtesy of a jet engine borrowed from a Typhoon jet fighter sitting in the back — and a trio of Intel Atom processors in the cockpit that will run a number of onboard diagnostics and telemetry systems. Sure, they won’t be adding to the overall thrust of the thing but neither will they be putting much of a drain on the electrical system. If all goes according to plan the car will be completed by the end of this year and will start speed runs by the beginning of 2012. Maybe by then Intel will have something a little quicker to slap in there. Continue reading Bloodhound SuperSonic Car begins construction: 1,000mph on Intel Atom processors (video) Bloodhound SuperSonic Car begins construction: 1,000mph on Intel Atom processors (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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