Hey, new Ford Fiesta owners: did you realize that your plebeian family hauler is actually one of the most geek-awesome vehicles on the road today? We were just reminded of that today on news that the latest version of Pandora for Android supports Ford Sync’s AppLink technology, a protocol that lets smartphone apps chat with your car’s entertainment system. In short, that means that you’ll be able to control Pandora with your car’s physical buttons, knobs, and doohickeys along with voice controls, hopefully giving you another great reason to keep the phone firmly planted in your pocket (or storage compartment) and your eyes on the road. The update’s available now — and while you’re downloading, you might as well start gathering paperwork for the dealer to run your credit report. Pandora for Android adds Ford Sync AppLink compatibility originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The Engadget Show Live! with Mitsubishi’s Frank DeMartin, iRobot, Aldebaran Robotics, Ubisoft, and crazy giveaways!
December 17, 2010 No Comment
Humans, keep your eyes tuned to this post — because at 6:30 PM ET , we’ll be starting The Engadget Show live, with Mitsubishi’s consumer electronics chief Frank DeMartin, Aldebaran’s NAO humanoid robot, never-before-scene segments, crazy giveaways, and much more! We’ve got music from BIT SHIFTER and visuals from noteNdo. You seriously don’t want to miss it. Update : We still have tickets left , so if you’re in New York City, come join us at the Times Center. The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City . Continue reading The Engadget Show Live! with Mitsubishi’s Frank DeMartin, iRobot, Aldebaran Robotics, Ubisoft, and crazy giveaways! The Engadget Show Live! with Mitsubishi’s Frank DeMartin, iRobot, Aldebaran Robotics, Ubisoft, and crazy giveaways! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A-suh-ss? Ah-sue-ss? As-ses? Nope, all wrong. We’ve been informed by ASUS that its head honcho has recently set a new rule in an attempt to rid our frustration, so what used to be “Ah-seuss” is now “A-seuss” (or “Eh-SUS” according to Taiwanese phonetics, as pictured). The logic behind this? Apparently it’s a direct chop from the pronunciation of “pegasus” — the origin of the company’s name — which ironically seems to favor the former diction. Anyhow, let’s not confuse ourselves any further and just study this lovely lady’s video demo after the break. Continue reading How to pronounce ASUS (video) How to pronounce ASUS (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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And the drops, they keep on comin’. Just 48 hours after T-Mobile USA reduced the financial barrier surrounding the Galaxy Tab to just $350 on contract, the suddenly boisterous US Cellular is doing ‘em one better. The carrier has just lowered the price of a shiny new 7-inch Tab to just $199.99 on a two-year data agreement, with the only major caveat being that consumers will have to opt for the pricier 5GB / month plan. That’ll run you $54.99 per month with pay-as-you-go messaging, or $74.99 per month with an all-you-can-message plan. We still aren’t totally hip with a tablet on contract (sans voice capabilities), but those who’ve warmed won’t find a better deal east of the Mississippi. Or west of it, frankly. [Thanks, D] Galaxy Tab hits new low on US Cellular: $200 with 5GB data agreement originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …L.A. Noire’s amazing MotionScan facial capture system demonstrated (video)
December 17, 2010 No Comment
In gaming, 3D graphics get more powerful, environments get more expansive, enemies get more intelligent, but still facial animations haven’t progressed much since Pac-Man chomped his first power pellet in 1980. Finally, a major breakthrough courtesy of Australian company Depth Analysis. It has developed technology called MotionScan, which enables a high-res 3D recreation of a person’s face — not just capturing bits and pieces of facial animation but their entire head, right down to the hairstyle. It’s getting its first use in next year’s L.A. Noire , a 1940s PS3 and Xbox 360 murder mystery game from Rockstar , and while we don’t know enough about the title to be able to say whether it’s worth plunking down a pre-order now, after watching the video embedded below it’s clear that the bar has been raised. Continue reading L.A. Noire’s amazing MotionScan facial capture system demonstrated (video) L.A. Noire’s amazing MotionScan facial capture system demonstrated (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Okay, it’s not exactly the new webOS hardware we’ve been waiting for, but we just got this shot of a Palm Bluetooth keyboard from a trusted source — we’re told it’s an accessory for Palm’s upcoming tablet , which is codenamed “Topaz.” Interestingly, we’re told the keyboard features a Windows key in addition to some webOS-specific keys — we’d guess that HP will sell it for general use as well. As for the Topaz tablet, it’s said to be extremely slick, with no hard buttons on the front and a design that echoes the design of the keyboard — we’re told it’s due out in the first half of 2011, which matches up with what we’ve heard from Palm . We’re also told Palm’s planning a low-end teen phone that’s something like a Pre with no keyboard — it’s codenamed “Castle,” (just like the original Pre and Pixi ) and due to hit Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T. That seems like a likely followup to the Pixi, but what we’re really anxious for is some news on a new high-end phone and the Topaz tablet — we’ll keep digging and let you know. Palm’s tablet is codenamed ‘Topaz,’ keyboard accessory leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It took LaCie nearly a full year to ship the 2big USB 3.0 RAID drive — a device that was announced in the fall of 2009 — but now that it’s here, it’s being accompanied by a concept that actually far outshines the unit itself: USB 3.0 on a Mac. For whatever reason, Apple has refused to offer SuperSpeed USB on any of its machines, even a fully specced-out Mac Pro costing well north of $10,000. We’ve seen purported emails from Steve Jobs noting that USB 3.0 just isn’t mainstream enough to sweat just yet, but coming from the guy who’s still bearish on Blu-ray , we get the feeling that it’ll be quite some time far too long before Apple finally caves and upgrades from USB 2.0. We’re obviously no fans of the holdout — after all, even a few sub-$500 netbooks are enjoying the SuperSpeed spoils already — so we couldn’t have possibly been more excited to hear that a longstanding storage vendor was about to fill the void that Cupertino continues to ignore. We were able to pick up a LaCie USB 3.0 PCIe expansion card as well as a 4TB (2 x 2TB) 2big USB 3.0 drive and put the whole setup through its paces on our in-house Mac Pro. Care to see how it stacked up against USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800? Head on past the break for the grisly details. Gallery: LaCie USB 3.0 PCIe expansion card and 2big HDD Continue reading USB 3.0 for Mac review and benchmarks (with a LaCie 2big USB 3.0) USB 3.0 for Mac review and benchmarks (with a LaCie 2big USB 3.0) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s still technically in beta, but Microsoft has just rolled out a fairly significant update to its Windows Phone 7 Connector software for Mac. Among other things, the software now has a new device setup process, support for manual file imports from the device, and the ability to sync content purchased on your phone back to your Mac — not to mention a slew of bug fixes and other more minor tweaks. Hit up the source link below to start downloading, or just look for it in the Microsoft AutoUpdate app. Microsoft rolls out updated Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you’re like us, you’ve probably come to rely on Dropbox quite a bit in your day-to-day activities. Hell, our crowd-sourced fan sequel to The Social Network about that “Tom from MySpace ” guy would never have got off the ground without it! Well, if you’re as enthusiastic about cloud storage solutions as we are, you’ll be more than excited to know that Dropbox 1.0 has just been announced. Among the new features that we’re most looking forward to putting to the test are Selective Sync (choose which folders get downloaded to which computers) and Extended Attribute Sync (improved support for Mac apps like Quicken and Quark whose resource forks bedevil most sync applications and corrupt data in the process). But that ain’t all! Hit the source link to get started. Dropbox celebrates version 1.0, throws selective sync into the mix originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Want to dig through 2.3 and see what all the fuss is about for yourself? Well, you’re in luck, because Gingerbread has just hit the Android Open Source Project’s repository, which means you can set up your machine to download the code. It’s great news for hardware companies that don’t care to get Google’s certification to include Android Market access — but it’s also great news for casual and serious hackers alike who are looking to craft some seriously wild, wacky custom ROMs. So, what are you waiting for? Get to it, folks. [Thanks, Mike] Update: Eager coders are being asked to “wait a few hours or a few days” before downloading to balance out the server load — and while you’re probably not interested in doing that, it’s probably in your best interest to heed the advice. Android 2.3 Gingerbread’s source code now available originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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