Archive for the 'Technology' Category

Lenovo confirms ICS for ThinkPad Tablet, gives us more reason to look forward to spring

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Love your ThinkPad Tablet, but hate staring at its somewhat outdated operating system? Great news! Your stylus-friendly slate will be getting a heaping helping of Ice Cream Sandwich come spring, according to Lenovo. As part of the company's commitment to "future proofing" its devices, the update will begin hitting the tablet over-the-air in May. The Android upgrade will bring with it browser enhancements, voice input, face unlock and general frozen deliciousness.

Lenovo confirms ICS for ThinkPad Tablet, gives us more reason to look forward to spring originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Russian carrier gives $5,000 vacation to its most data hungry customer

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Use more data, win more prizes. It may sound counterintuitive, but that's exactly what Russian operator MegaFon is offering to its subscribers, as part of a curious 3G promotion. It all began back in November, when the provider announced a rather straightforward contest: customers who downloaded the most data with their 3G modems would be awarded prizes worth up to one million rubles (about $33,000), including a $5,000 vacation. According to Russian news site C News, MegaFon launched the campaign in order to showcase the expanse of its data network, which apparently covers more than 80 percent of northwestern Russia and offers speeds of up to 21Mbps. The promotion came to an official close on January 31st, with the coronation of a lucky winner who, over the course of a single week, managed to scarf down 419GB of data on the company's 3G network. MegaFon didn't offer usage statistics on the second and third place winners, nor did it say what they won for their efforts, if you wanna call them that.

Russian carrier gives $5,000 vacation to its most data hungry customer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Adafruit’s Circuit Playground app deciphers resistor codes, helps you remember Ohm’s Law

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Circuit Playground
If the names Phillip Torrone, Limor Fried and Collin Cunningham don't ring a bell then you probably need to hand over your geek badge. If, on the other hand, those names immediately make you sit up and pay attention, you maybe excited to hear the trio have just released the first Adafruit-branded app for iOS. Circuit Playground is a reference app for makers, hackers and tinkerers that helps you decipher resistor and capacitor values; calculate resistance, current or voltage; convert decimal, hexadecimal and binary values; and store PDF data sheets for ICs. The app is $2.99, but it comes with a $3 credit at the Adafruit shop, so it's kinda-sorta free. It's available for iPad and iPhone only, but an Android version is in the works. If you're an impatient Google fan, they suggest you check out ElectroDroid which performs many of the same functions and we can confirm is awesome. Check out the video after the break and hit up the source link to get Circuit Playground now.

Gallery: Circuit Playground

Continue reading Adafruit's Circuit Playground app deciphers resistor codes, helps you remember Ohm's Law

Adafruit's Circuit Playground app deciphers resistor codes, helps you remember Ohm's Law originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint shows you where and when it’s disabling Nextel’s iDEN legacy network

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Clue's in the title, really. If you head on over to Sprint's website, you'll find a page explaining the forthcoming changes to the service for legacy iDEN customers. Nextel users can enter in their zip code to find out which cellphone towers will be decommissioned and the due dates for each one. The program's beginning in New Orleans this month as the towers are thinned out to a reasonable number. Whilst it isn't (yet) the death-knell for the standard, given the network's push-to-talk service now works over CDMA and, you know, LTE, we'd start looking at replacement phones pretty soon.

Sprint shows you where and when it's disabling Nextel's iDEN legacy network originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Motorola wants 2.25 percent of Apple sales, in exchange for patent license

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

New details have emerged about the ongoing Apple-Motorola drama in Germany, courtesy of a court document uncovered by FOSS Patents. The two companies have been engaged in a patent battle of swelling proportion these past few months, with the most recent wrinkle unfolding on Friday, when Apple promptly removed (and returned) its 3G / UMTS-enabled iPads and iPhone 4s from its online German store, in response to a court ruling. At issue in this particular case is a Motorola patent that Apple wants to use under FRAND obligations, but Moto apparently isn't willing to license its technology for free. According to a court filing, the handset maker is asking for 2.25 percent of Apple sales in return for the license, though it remains unclear whether this pertains to sales of all products or, more likely, the 3G-enabled devices under consideration in court. Either way, though, Motorola would stand to see quite a bit of extra revenue, especially considering that Apple's iPhone sales have totaled about $93 billion since 2007. Under Motorola's request, the company would have made about $2.1 billion from these sales alone -- not to mention the payments it'd see from iPad sales, as well. Apple, meanwhile, has filed motions to access Motorola's licensing agreements with Nokia, HTC and other manufacturers, in the hopes of exposing a double standard.

Motorola wants 2.25 percent of Apple sales, in exchange for patent license originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NPD: iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds
According to the latest research from the NPD group, Apple has got its second wind in smartphone sales. In the same quarter that saw the iPhone 4S reinvent the wheel obey our every vocal whim, the trio of available models soaked up a total of 43 percent of the US smartphone market in Q4 2012, apparently knawing away at Android's market share of 53 percent held during the rest of 2011. However, Google's mobile OS appears to be the debutante smartphone of choice, cornering 57 percent of new purchases, with 34 percent going for Apple. The remaining 9 percent is distributed between the smartphone also-rans, with the likes of Windows Phone and BlackBerry languishing in that anonymous grey bar at the top. The top five handsets from NPD's Mobile Phone Track service is an Apple and Samsung love-in, with iOS devices claiming the three top spots, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S II (we assume collectively) and the Galaxy S 4G. NPD's blow-by-blow commentary on this increasingly two-horse race awaits below.

Continue reading NPD: iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds

NPD: iPhones recover market share in Q4 2011, but Android draws the first-timer crowds originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lilyhammer (or: ‘Silvio in Norway’) now streaming on Netflix

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Lilyhammer, Netflix's first original series (shortly to be followed by the probably awful remake of House of Cards and Arrested Development season four) commenced streaming today. Little Steven (Van Zandt, of E-Street Band and Sopranos fame) plays wholly against type as a mafioso despatched by the witness protection program to Lillehammer. Unlike the HBOs and AMCs of this world, you'll be able to binge-watch the whole show as soon as you get in from work, just make sure the under-18s are in bed before you begin as freed from the network censors, it's a little coarse. Oh, and if you're wondering, those of us in the know have decided to nickname the show "Paulie Silvio in Norway," in the hopes that it'll catch on before the already confirmed season two begins filming.

Lilyhammer (or: 'Silvio in Norway') now streaming on Netflix originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Super Bowl 2012 Ad Roundup: Galaxy Note, Hulu Plus, Best Buy and more

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Galaxy Note, Hulu Plus, Best Buy and more
By now, we've become accustomed to the circus of elite advertising that takes place during America's biggest game, and this year was no exception. Last night's Super Bowl made room for over 50 commercials during its air time, some of which included the likes of Samsung's whopping Galaxy Note, the usual Go Daddy domain teasers, a bit of Best Buy "innovation" and the Hulu Plus Mushy Mush campaign, just to mention a few. Needless to say, we put together a small collection of some we believe you might enjoy, so take a virtual jump past the break to catch the big-ticket advertising in action. You can also find the rest of the ad pack at the source link below.

Continue reading Super Bowl 2012 Ad Roundup: Galaxy Note, Hulu Plus, Best Buy and more

Super Bowl 2012 Ad Roundup: Galaxy Note, Hulu Plus, Best Buy and more originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony patent sketches reveal Wii U-esque controller system, keeps it vague

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Sony patent sketches reveal Wii U-esque controller system, keeps it vague

While Nintendo is darn proud of its attempts to differentiate itself from other console manufacturers with its unusual hardware choices, it looks like Sony also had plenty of touchscreen-toting, TV-connected ideas way back in 2010. These patent sketches explain a handheld device that bares a foggy resemblance to Nintendo's incoming Wii U. The "position-dependent gaming, 3-D controller, and handheld as a remote," would act as the "input to a video game" -- or controller, as we technical types like to call it -- adding in some augmented reality functionality as an overlay to camera input on the device. The PS Vita is already capable of doing most of what's posited above, including the ability to hook up to its older (bigger) brother, the PS3 -- possibly that anonymous box you can see above. If such a mystery device device does appear, at least it looks like Sony's got its bases covered, again.

Sony patent sketches reveal Wii U-esque controller system, keeps it vague originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor Mill: 7mm-thick Galaxy SIII coming in May?

Posted by Ry on Feb 06 2012 | Technology

Korea's ETNews is betting its reputation upon this raft of rumored details concerning Samsung's Galaxy SIII. Since the only thing we know for certain is that it'll be announced "After MWC," lets take all of these tidbits with a strong pot of "We'll believe it when we see it," okay? According to the report, the handset's going to be 7mm thick, helped by the company shrinking down its PCB, connector and chip sizes by between 10 and 20 percent. The only thing that hasn't lost any weight is the camera, which may sit on a "protrusion" (like the Droid RAZR's hump). It'll be running a custom quad-core processor with HDMI and LTE baked-in, and rather obviously it'll be running Ice Cream Sandwich. Here's where things get a little confusing, either this is the first of a raft of models that will highlight different features (so we'll see subsequent GSIIIs with an S-Pen, 3D display or souped-up camera) or the above perks will come with the flagship as standard. Parts are reportedly gearing up to be shipped, but the only time we'll get confirmation is when that special event kicks off closer to the summer.

[Thanks, Erich]

Rumor Mill: 7mm-thick Galaxy SIII coming in May? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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