Not since we ran into Benign Girl at the Dollar General have we been so taken with a toy cellphone. Yours now for a mere 99 cents, Smart Phone (creative name!), proves what we suspected all along: in Shenzhen, even children’s playthings are jailbroken . But please be careful, as this thing is only recommended for users over the age of four. Get a closer look after the break. [Thanks, Josh] Continue reading Toy smartphone jailbreak: top tech trend for 2011? Toy smartphone jailbreak: top tech trend for 2011? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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In the George A. Romero classic, Night of the Living Dead , a radioactive satellite falls to earth and causes the dead to rise from their graves — but what if the satellite itself had become a zombie? That’s the slightly less frightening reality that has befallen Intelsat’s Galaxy 15 communications satellite, which “went rogue” in April of 2010 and has been unresponsive ever since — even though it has continued to transmit signals. Late last month, however, the satellite finally came back to life, and Intelsat was able to put it into safe mode to prevent it from interfering with other communications satellites. It’s apparently even now trying to determine if the satellite could become fully functional again — although, if you ask us, that just sounds like it’s all part of the zombie satellite’s plan… ‘Zombie satellite’ springs back to life, actual zombies still zombies originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Ah, there always has to be fine print, doesn’t there? Don’t get us wrong — $40 for unlimited talk and text alone is still a pretty fantastic deal in the scheme of things — but in tweaking its LTE service plans today, MetroPCS has made the data situation just a little confusing. Technically, the $40 plan also includes unlimited web access plus YouTube… but at the $50 price point, you get 1GB of “additional data access” for features that aren’t covered under MetroPCS’ definition of “web browsing.” You also get turn-by-turn navigation, international text messaging, access to corporate email accounts (another arbitrary distinction that we’d kind of like to see go away), and audio / video features through the carrier’s MetroSTUDIO service. At $60, you get unlimited access to MetroSTUDIO including 18 channels of on-demand video content. MetroPCS’ lowest-cost LTE offering had previously been $55, so it’s a step in the right direction — but pro-net neutrality? Yeah, not so much. Follow the break for the press release. Continue reading MetroPCS tweaks LTE plans: $40 gets you unlimited talk, text, and web* MetroPCS tweaks LTE plans: $40 gets you unlimited talk, text, and web* originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Editorial: I’m ready for my car of the future, and it doesn’t even have to fly
January 3, 2011 No Comment
Face it: you’re never going to have a flying car. Even if the Moler Skycar were cheap and common enough for everyone to be able to afford, the first time some bleary-eyed morning commuter spilled coffee on their lap and made a spiraling dive into a kindergarten they’d all be grounded. Permanently. We might get there some day, but the next few generations of tomorrow’s cars are going to stay firmly planted on the ground. I’m okay with that. In fact, I like that. After all, it’s pretty fun to drive on the ground — or a lake, if the ice is thick enough. If we’re stuck with such pedestrian things as wheels and tires and fenders, what’s the next-generation of cars going to look like? Are hybrids really a hot thing or are they the automotive equivalent of a transition medium? Will tomorrow’s cars continue today’s horsepower wars or are a nation’s dyno graphs on the verge of a beige econo-precipice the likes of which we haven’t seen since the ’70s fuel crisis? Damned if I know, but I do at least have an idea of what I believe the next generation of cars should be, something that could be produced in five years or less and would totally rock my world. Maybe it will rock yours too. Continue reading Editorial: I’m ready for my car of the future, and it doesn’t even have to fly Editorial: I’m ready for my car of the future, and it doesn’t even have to fly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 12:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Analarm vibrating watch wakes you, not your spouse or the neighbors (video)
January 3, 2011 No Comment
At some point, every day, it’s time to wake up. If you’re lucky you roll out of bed whenever the spirit moves you. For the rest of us there’s some sort of prompting involved. At some point you’ve probably felt the rage of being awoken early by someone else’s alarm, a problem that the Analarm watch nullifies. It’s a simple concept: a vibrating watch with an alarm. Set your time and it buzzes to let you know when to get up, a feature we sorely wished the WakeMate had. Seemingly that’s all the thing does, other than tell time of course, which makes its
Continue reading …Freescale announces i.MX 6 processor series, wants quad cores in your smartphone
January 3, 2011 No Comment
Power. We need more. More for streaming video, more for playing games, and more just so that we can say we have it. Freescale hears us, and it’s delivering the i.MX 6 series of mobile processors offering up to four ARM Cortex A9 cores at 1.2GHz each. That’s plenty for 3D rendering on your car infotainment system, music-making on your smartphone, maybe a little SETI action on your next smart refrigerator. Even 1080p30 video encoding is a said to be within these chips’ reach. i.MX 6 processors will be available in one, two, or four core configurations with up to 1MB of L2 cache. HDMI 1.4 support is onboard, along with gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0, but sadly not 3.0 . It seems there’s always something to look forward to in the next revision, but that could be quite a wait with i.MX 6 sampling not set to begin until “later this year.” Continue reading Freescale announces i.MX 6 processor series, wants quad cores in your smartphone Freescale announces i.MX 6 processor series, wants quad cores in your smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Hey, you — it’s January 3rd. You know, the day you’re supposed to return to work / school / life. And the day you’re supposed to catch a flight you’ve had booked for three months. And probably a day that you’re supposed to accomplish lots of other tasks. Unfortunately for you, you actually believed that your iPhone alarm would fix itself when today rolled around, but based on hordes of complaints seen on Twitter and Facebook, said fix is still hibernating. And thus, you’re still sleeping. Even here at Engadget HQ, we’ve seen iPhone 4 handsets not wake us as promised (on non-recurring alarms), so who knows when Apple will step up to the plate and address the issue. In the meantime, go ahead and set up a recurring alarm while gently crossing your fingers and toes. Or, you know, buy a battery-powered alarm clock off of your grandmother. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] iPhone alarms still not working, worlds crashing left and right originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Iceberg Cam, Snowball Cam, Blizzard Cam and Drift Cam were the arctic photographer’s best friends — high-tech spy robot cameras designed to resist cold and traverse sub-zero terrain. Then they got crushed to death by giant polar bears while attempting to make friends. Seriously, that’s the basic gist of Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice , a new BBC documentary which began airing last week, and which just so happens to be narrated by David Tennant. Hope he’s got a screwdriver handy, if you know what we mean. Watch the bears play a spirited match of robot football after the break, then see all the lovely mechanical carnage at our source links. Continue reading Polar bears destroy robot spy cams, show no remorse (video) Polar bears destroy robot spy cams, show no remorse (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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OCOSMOS. Sound familiar ? If you were with us for last year’s wild ride through the autumn, it most definitely will. For whatever reason, this South Korean company only comes out to play when the world’s eyes are watching, and while we’ve yet to hear a peep about the products it wowed us with just a few months back, the outfit’s making a last-second play for attention at this year’s gala. All we have to go on so far are the images above and these two details: this unnamed gaming handheld will boast a dual-core Intel processor and run some version of Windows 7. In other words, you can finish up an Excel file right after you plow through a bona fide Windows game. We’re hoping to learn more on this guy in due time, and you can bet we’ll be grappling for hands-on time once we hit the floor. OCOSMOS returns at CES 2011 with Windows 7-based gaming handheld originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Vizio unveils Theater 3D HDTVs with passive glasses tech in 22- to 71-inch sizes
January 3, 2011 No Comment
We doubt we’ve seen all of Vizio’s 2011 product lineup yet, but the latest information is that it’s expanding upon the one Theater 3D TV model currently available with an entire line — promising to offer 3D with passive glasses in sizes from 22- all the up to 71-inches. There’s 21 models detailed in the press release after the break including LED edge lit LCDs, direct LED backlit models, ones with the Yahoo! Widgets VIA package and a couple of the new Google TV-powered models . No word on price or ship date yet, but the company is quick to point out that putting the 3D processing into the screen means cheaper movie theater-style 3D glasses with ostensible greater brightness and less flicker, plus compatibility with Oakley’s “optically correct” specs . Check out all the details in the press release after the break. Continue reading Vizio unveils Theater 3D HDTVs with passive glasses tech in 22- to 71-inch sizes Vizio unveils Theater 3D HDTVs with passive glasses tech in 22- to 71-inch sizes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 09:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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