Let’s be real: it should come as little surprise that Sammy — a company with multiple Android phones on Verizon already — would be joining LG , Motorola , and HTC in prepping a new model for its LTE network . Sure enough, Gizmodo has scored an alleged shot of said phone, showing Froyo (Android 2.2.1, to be specific) along with a front-facing camera and a model number of SCH-i520; it’s said to feature TouchWiz (as most non- Nexus S Android phones from Samsung tend to do) and, fortunately, lacks the Bing integration that Verizon’s been pushing on its low- and midrange smartphones lately. Given the company’s iffy track record on getting Froyo deployed in a timely manner to the Galaxy S line , we’re not sure how we’d feel about buying a new Froyo model when Gingerbread’s now available — especially with all these other LTE models that Verizon’s going to have on top — but options are good, we suppose. Samsung LTE phone with front-facing camera headed to Verizon? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’re not quite sure what’s prompted all the hilarious names today, but the CIA has now formed a new group with an acronym of the likes we haven’t seen since the days of Nixon’s CREEP (or the Committee to Reelect the President). The WikiLeaks Task Force — yeah, WTF — has been charged with assessing the impact of the leaked cables on the agency’s foreign relationships and operations, and it seems that the acronym has unsurprisingly already become the normal parlance at HQ. No word if the CIA is planning on holding a WTF BBQ to mark the occasion. CIA’s WTF to investigate impact of WikiLeaks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Amazingly, the FCC still hasn’t released the full text of the net neutrality rules it passed by a contentious 3-2 vote yesterday, so we can’t really say much about what’s in them — and while this sort of delay is typical of the Genachowski FCC, it hasn’t stopped the carriers from issuing statements on the new rules. We’ve got to say, responses to the new rules range all over the map: Sprint commended the FCC, T-Mobile needs some time to look things over, AT&T called it a “fair middle ground” but railed about “radical voices” and “heavy-handed government regulation” (seriously) and Verizon — well, Verizon issued what appears to be a veiled threat to sue everyone. That’s pretty interesting, since it sure looks to us like the FCC all but rubber-stamped last summer’s Google / Verizon neutrality proposal , but you never know what’s happening behind closed doors — and remember, Verizon’s last major policy statement was a call to revamp the entire Telecommunications Act , so Big Red might have bigger plans in store. We’ve rounded up all the reactions below — check ‘em out. Continue reading Net neutrality: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile react Net neutrality: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile react originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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While Acer wasn’t willing to let us power on its forthcoming Android tablets at its press event last month , it looks like the company just doesn’t have the same kind of control over its partners or employees. Three videos of what appears to be Acer’s 10-inch Android tablet have popped up on YouTube, and not only is the slate powered on, but the footage provides a pretty clear look at some of Acer’s custom Android apps. The entire UI looks like it’s still in a beta stage and the video itself looks like it is some sort of internal test demo — don’t forget Acer is planning to ship these with Honeycomb in April — but the company seems to be messing around with gyroscope-based page turns and some unique zoom gestures within the photo / e-reader application. We’re assuming the tablet is running Froyo as there’s a quick peek at the homescreen and app drawer in the first video, but other than that we’re really at a loss for details here. Hit the break for the trio of videos and to see it all for yourself. Oh, and Acer, if you send us one, we promise to go easier on the screen ( see 0:12 of video three ) than this lady… just sayin’! Continue reading Acer’s Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video Acer’s Android tablet (and its gyroscope) previewed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Chrome for a Cause results tabulated: good will all around (but mostly for vaccinations)
December 22, 2010 No Comment
Did you join in Chrome for a Cause? The $1 million tab-heavy campaign has come and gone (with a 250 tab per day maximum, much to our click-frenzied dismay ), and Google’s tallied up the final scores. Of the nearly 60.6 million tabs “donated”, 16.2m went for vaccinations, 14.8m tabs for trees, 14.1m for water… 8.6m for books and 6.8m for shelter. Bit of an interesting disparity, there. Were those two not as well presented in the contribution menu? Did the return (0.4 square feet per day at most) not seem as great as the number of trees you could plant? Google eBooks ? It’s all still a good chunk of change for each of the five partnering charities. Full breakdown at the Chrome blog — and don’t deactivate that extension if you want to maximize your Reddit addiction for the next charitable go-around. Chrome for a Cause results tabulated: good will all around (but mostly for vaccinations) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We don’t know what it fixes yet, but we’ve gotten some tips — and we’re now seeing it on xda-developers — that Nexus S handsets in the field are getting blessed with their first software update, build GRH78 (up from GRH55) with an official version of 2.3.1. Not everyone has it yet (we don’t on ours), so as usual, this would seem to be getting sent out on a rolling basis. Hang tight, owners! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Nexus S gets its first update over the air originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Sony buys back Toshiba’s Cell plant for 50 billion yen, makes a killing and plans a CMOS fab
December 22, 2010 No Comment
Looks like Toshiba’s Cell processor ambitions didn’t quite pan out — Japanese news sources are reporting that the company’s selling its Nagasaki manufacturing plant back to Sony for 50 billion yen, or roughly $597 million in US money. Considering that Toshiba originally purchased the semiconductor facility for 100 billion yen (then $835 million) back in 2008 , Sony’s making out like a bandit here, to be sure — and it may have just found the perfect place to build more CMOS chips for its high-end camera lineup, too. Sony reportedly told the Nikkei Business Daily that it may repurpose the facility to produce HD image sensors for cameras and smartphones. What will happen to the chip that launched 40 million PS3s and a graphics co-processor or two? With any luck, we’ll find out at CES 2011 quite soon. Sony buys back Toshiba’s Cell plant for 50 billion yen, makes a killing and plans a CMOS fab originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If we’ve learned anything from the former Soviet Union, it’s that collapsed empires have lots of awesome tech just layin’ around. We’ve recently heard tale of someone who found the remnants of the USSR’s lunar program under a tarp somewhere, and now a Russian website has uncovered some pretty bad-ass pics of the 1K17 Self-Propelled Laser Complex. First deployed in 1992, the vehicle features a laser system that could be used, as the machine translated document says, to “provide anti-opto-electronic surveillance systems” in even “the harshest climatic and operating conditions imposed on the armor.” (In other words, the lasers would disrupt the enemy’s electronics and optics, even in the bleak Russian winter.) It seems that the program was discontinued pretty quickly due to expense, with the hardware eventually being consigned to the Military Technical Museum in the Ivanovo Oblast. Secret Soviet-era laser tank pops up in the Ivanovo Oblast originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Thought the launch of the Kin ONEm and TWOm was strange? Here’s another oddity with a Microsoft tie-in: Canadian startup Mobilicity has just announced the “Mobiflip,” a phone that the carrier’s own press release calls out as being “similar to the Sidekick LX .” It’s unclear whether what’s left of Danger will be supporting the device — the Sidekick line basically pioneered mobile cloud computing, after all — but what we see of the interface certainly rings true to the Sidekicks of days gone by. It runs CAD $99.99 ($98) contract-free, which is a whole heck of a lot cheaper than its American doppelganger launched for — $250 on contract, if you recall. Yowza! Follow the break for the press release. Continue reading Sharp Mobiflip channels Sidekick LX’s vibes for Mobilicity Sharp Mobiflip channels Sidekick LX’s vibes for Mobilicity originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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