Kamis, 31 Desember 2009

Ask Engadget: Best Skype phone for Europe?

We undergo you've got questions, and if you're colorful sufficiency to transmit the world for answers, here's the activity to do so. This week's Ask Engadget discourse is reaching to us from Roland, who can't move to get his fresh settled miss whatever variety of phone with Skype capabilities.
"My miss fresh touched to Belgium. She has admittance to WiFi at home, so I'd same to beam her a ambulatory phone that crapper separate a Skype client. Requirements are WiFi, crapper impact on European / European carriers, runs Skype, and has superior shelling life. Anyone hit some suggestions?"
There's nothing worse than not existence healthy to transmit with someone when you desperately requirement to, so we're hoping that our readers crossways the lake module be healthy to chime in here with a lowercase advice. If you've got something arable to add, drop it down in comments below!

read more...

BPhone looks like a netbook, acts like a netbook, has 'phone' in its name (video)

If you were looking for a super and crazy "cellphone," we meet strength hit some programme for you. Hot on the heels of a certain Dell netbook mod, we submit for your support a 5-inch redeemable figure that features a QWERTY chocolate keyboard, trackball, and quite mayhap Windows XP. We've got no relevant data for you, much as manufacturer, price, and release date are all mysteries at this point, but you crapper wager it in action if you same -- meet analyse out the videos after the break. As for us, we conceive we'll meet move for the xpPhone.




read more...

Orange plans to bring 'HD Voice' calls to UK next year

We've had whatever indication that Orange designed to expand its "HD Voice" technology beyond the blistering testbed of Moldavia sometime in the coming year, and it looks aforementioned the carrier is now play to intend a taste more limited about when the UK module eventually have an deciding to standard definition calls. Apparently, Orange module begin trials of the newborn and improved, 3G-facilitated service primeval in the newborn year, and full listing it discover along with a "range of handsets" before the modify of the year. Just what crapper you expect from HD voice? Why, it module attain it "sound as if callers are actually in the aforementioned room," according to Orange UK honcho executive blackamoor Alexander, who boost added that "HD vocalise really does dispense a take of conception into ambulatory phone calls," and that "once grouping have proven it, they won't poverty to go back."

read more...

Mophie iPhone credit card reader coming to a CES near you

iPhone clothing maker and recession antidote lawful Mophie is most to attain the most buzzworthy advise of its brief history by offering a assign bill reader and accompanying dealings app for the Apple handset. Positioned as a direct competitor to Jack Dorsey's Square iPhone Payment System, Mophie's resolution looks to be desegrated into an iPhone case -- making it possible to ready the reader on permanently, albeit at a offense cost to your device's aesthetics. The decidedly cube-shaped Square system has a inferior ergonomic design, but we suspect that the succeeder (if either of these digit succeeds) module be primarily determined by the usability of the app and affordability of the service. Look out for more info to rise at some saucer during the maelstrom that module be CES 2010.

read more...

Rabu, 30 Desember 2009

A-DATA's USB 3.0 / SATA II flash drive announced for January

We're a few wanted breaths from 2010, and if there's anything we're looking nervy to, it's whatever evil fast USB 3.0 storage -- Intel be damned. Set to impact shelves sometime in January, A-DATA's N002 Combo Flash Drive sports both SATA II and a USB 3.0 connection. Using the latter, the intend boasts up to 200MB/sec read and 170 MB/sec write speeds. Or if you're feeling retro, you crapper verify plus of that backwards-compatibility and enter via USB 2.0. Now, we don't undergo how such this intense pupil module cost, but it module be bundled with A-DATA UFD to GO software. Of course, this abstract is not nearly as artful as the Kissing Octopus USB drive, but we're sure it's not without its charms.

read more...

Ion netbooks head-to-head: Atom, overcharged?

It's been more than a assemblage since NVIDIA announced its Ion platform, promising to alter HD recording and gaming to the underpowered Atom CPU. After every the stop ups, we started to astonishment if we'd ever wager the platform crowded exclusive a netbook, so envisage our assail when no inferior than quaternary Ion-based machines launched in the instance whatever months. With large screens, meliorate specs, more graphics hooligan and, of course, the resulting higher toll tag, apiece of these Ion machines promises quite a bit, but which one lives up to the hype? We got them every unitedly and spent the instance whatever weeks investigating the ASUS Eee PC 1201N, Lenovo IdeaPad S12, HP Mini 311 and the Samsung N510 -- study on instance the break for our rank faceoff.
Ion Netbooks Compared



The Contenders


ASUS Eee PC 1201N ($499.99) 12.1-inch diode pass (1366 x 768) Windows 7 Home Premium 1.6GHz Dual Core Intel Atom 330 NVIDIA Ion 1GB of RAM 5,400rpm, 320GB Hard Drive Battery: 6-Cell 63Whr Li-ion
ASUS Eee PC 1201N


Lenovo IdeaPad S12 ($649.00) 12.1-inch diode pass (1280 x 800) Windows 7 Home Premium 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 NVIDIA Ion 3GB of RAM 5,400rpm, 250GB Hard Drive Battery: 6-Cell 52Whr Li-ion
Lenovo IdeaPad S12


HP Mini 311 ($474.99) 11.6-inch diode pass (1366 x 768) Windows XP Home Edition 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 NVIDIA Ion LE 1GB of RAM 5,400rpm, 320GB Hard Drive Battery: 6-Cell 55Whr Li-ion
HP Mini 311


Samsung N510 ($599.99) 11.6-inch diode pass (1366 x 768) Windows 7 Home Premium 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 NVIDIA Ion LE 2GB of RAM 5,400rpm, 250GB Hard Drive Battery: 6-Cell 66Wh Li-ion
Samsung N510


Round 1: Design

All quaternary netbooks forgo 10-inch displays for more spacious 11.6- to 12.1-inch screens, but not to vexation -- they're ease compact sufficiency to artefact into a laptop bag or carry with meet a liberated hand. While on essay the 1.1-inch, 3.4-pound Lenovo isn't quite the thickest -- that'd be the ASUS at 1.3-inches -- its hefty, protruding six-cell shelling does makes it the heaviest and chunkiest-looking of the bunch. And though Samsung does control a nice, 1.2-inch anorectic body, the 3.1-pound, 1.1-inch anorectic HP Mini 311 is noticeably the lightest and trimmest and it ease manages to house the aforementioned ports as the rest (three USBs, HDMI, VGA, Ethernet and a headphone and mike jack).

When it comes to aesthetics, the Lenovo, Samsung and ASUS every closely resemble their junior netbook siblings, and their glossy, fingerprint-loving lids and black change keyboards decks exude a pseudo-professional look. The Lenovo's light circular dot ornament gives it whatever difference, but coverall every three look quite similar. We did appreciate the small differences though, same the bout modify power fix near on the Samsung's hinge, and the pearl-like palm on the Lenovo. But it's rattling HP that manages to effect on both portability and design. We rattling liked the Mini 311's subtle, swirly ornament on its albescent palpebra and the assorted grayness keyboard and palmrest. And as fingerprint-smudged lids rattling intend us nuts, it didn't perceive that the palpebra didn't yield some traces of our slimy hands.

Winner: HP Mini 311

Round 2: Keyboard, touchpad and screen

With wider screens and more embellish actual estate, every of the keyboards were cushy for routine use, but that's not to feature they're every perfect. Though we found ASUS' chiclet keyboard cushy to identify on, the keys themselves felt chintzy, as we've mentioned before. It's a kindred story with HP's grayness glazed keys; we same the see of them, but they don't seem same they'd wear substantially and in whatever areas we could belike imbibe a key soured without likewise such effort. The Samsung and Lenovo's change keyboards are by farther the most sturdy, but see of the raised and angled black keys on the Lenovo stood discover in quality.

All the touchpads were comfortable. But HP continues to hit an Achilles tilt when it comes touchpads: the Mini 311's aggrandize is positioned likewise near to the keyboard, and when we typed our palm repeatedly moved the cursor to a assorted positioning on the screen. We did figure discover how prizewinning to seek our hands, but it was quite peeving. Both the Samsung and ASUS hit multitouch pads, and we're bright to inform two finger scrolling worked fine, though the single pussyfoot buttons were simple and we desirable to threefold tap. We're bright to inform that two-finger scrolling worked quite substantially on both. In the end, Lenovo's panoramic aggrandize and firm, sacred right and mitt buttons provided the prizewinning all-around experience.

While the ASUS and Lenovo hit 12.1-inch displays, HP and Samsung went with small 11.6-inchers -- though they're rattling not noticeably small to the unclothed eye. Lenovo's concealment has a 1200 x 800 resolution, but the rest hit 1366x768 resolutions, which makes watch HD noesis concise and clear. However, the glare caused by the glossy screens on the ASUS, Lenovo and HP is extremely noticeable and results in slummy insipid watch angles when disagreeable to share the concealment with a friend. We did, however, verify a liking to the watch angles on the Samsung N510's change screen, and the fact that we didn't hit to look at our alikeness every instance the concealment overturned Stygian in a mettlesome or video. Though Samsung's concealment was meliorate in terms of pure quality, this ammo ease goes to Lenovo for superior ergonomics.

Winner: Lenovo IdeaPad S12

Round 3: Overall performance


Okay, here's the bounteous surprise. Though NVIDIA says Ion should hit no effect on routine performance, the Samsung, HP and the Lenovo felt slower than added Atom N270 and N280 netbooks we've tested. Though it's not rattling reflected in the benchmarks, we detected it attractive individual for the machines to unstoppered programs, and when working in Firefox with a handful of tabs they meet lagged more than others. In an routine stopwatch effort it took the Lenovo and Samsung 2.5 seconds to unstoppered Firefox with no added programs running, patch it took the accepted N280-based HP Mini 5101 1 second. Similarly, it took the Lenovo 8 seconds, the Samsung 6 seconds to unstoppered the aforementioned 1.5MB PDF in Adobe Acrobat 9, patch both the accepted HP Mini 5101 and the next-gen Atom N450-based Eee PC 1005PE unsealed it in 3 seconds flat.

So patch Ion promised meliorate performance, these netbooks see more sluggish in routine tasks. And though we've heard theories disagreeable to vindicate it -- including Liliputing's about accumulated concealment partitioning causing more lineage on the CPU -- every we actually undergo is that these results are disappointing. Sure, every these laptops will capably appendage your scheme surfing and light covering needs, but the inevitable fact is that a netbook which costs $200 inferior will belike do it faster.

PDF Open Times GIMP Open Times ASUS Eee PC 1201N (Win 7 SE) 3.5 sec 21 sec HP Mini 311 (XP) 5 sec 24 sec Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Win 7 SE) 8 sec
42 sec Samsung N510 6 sec 33 sec ASUS Eee PC 1005PE (Intel Atom N450)* 3 sec 21 sec HP Mini 5101 (Intel Atom N280)* 3 sec 20 sec
*Standard Intel Atom configuration

The HP, Lenovo and Samsung every may come armored with standard, single-core Atom processors, but the Eee PC 1201N's dual-core 1.66GHz Atom N330 processor showed no hurt. And as we mentioned in our flooded review of the 1201N, it felt such snappier in routine ingest than some of the N270 or N280 Atom netbooks we've tested, and the criterion chart below echoes that.

GeekBench PCMark05 ASUS Eee PC 1201N (Win 7 SE) 1106 2208 HP Mini 311 (XP) 957 2016 Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Win 7 SE) 833 1394 Samsung N510 883 1799 ASUS Eee PC 1005PE (Intel Atom N450) 942 1431 HP Mini 5101 (Intel Atom N280) 920 1650

Winner: ASUS Eee PC 1201N

Round 4: Graphics and HD performance


Graphics and multimedia performance, on the added hand, blew us absent -- Ion undoubtedly provides meliorate multimedia handling, modify if it's at the cost of routine performance. All quaternary of the netbooks were healthy to play a Blu-ray clip at a flooded 1080p resolution, smoothly stream a YouTube 1080p clip with Flash 10.1 installed, and appendage whatever mainstream games -- every things we couldn't do with the HP Mini 5101 or the Pine Trail-powered MSI Wind U135. But as you'd expect, the Eee PC 1201N's stronger CPU helped it to cutting meliorate benchmarks and framerates than the added systems. Playing Batman: Arkham Asylum at 1024 x 768 partitioning was noticeably speedier on the ASUS than with the Lenovo IdeaPad S12.

3DMark06 WoW (FPS)* ASUS Eee PC 1201N (Win 7 SE) 1555 30 HP Mini 311 (XP) 1464 29 Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Win 7 SE) 1243 21 Samsung N510 1271 25 ASUS Eee PC 1005PE 157 --- HP Mini 5101 128 ---
* World of Warcraft frames per ordinal rhythmic in native resolution

Quick note: the Samsung N510 and HP Mini 311 hit an Ion LE chipset. The only disagreement between LE and lawful Ion is that the LE edition disables hold for DirectX10, but if you're up for the contest you could always try and hack it.

Winner: ASUS Eee PC 1201N

Round 5: Battery life

Battery Life on recording rundown ASUS Eee PC 1201N (Win 7 SE) 2:26:00 HP Mini 311 (XP) 3:53:00 Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (Win 7 SE) 2:40:00 Samsung N510 3:20:00 ASUS Eee PC 1005PE 8:10:00 HP Mini 5101 5:45:00

NVIDIA claims that Ion has bottom effects on shelling life; we'd beg to differ. Despite the fact that apiece netbook was equipped with a higher-capacity six-cell battery, hour of them lasted individual than quaternary hours on our HD recording summary test. Both the ASUS and the Lenovo got inferior than three hours, which is unbelievably baritone for a modern ultraportable or netbook. Nevertheless, the Mini 311 posted the prizewinning instance at 3 hours and 51 minutes -- farther brief of the accepted Atom-based HP Mini 5101's sextet hours, and not modify near to the octad hours we got from the Pine Trail-equipped ASUS Eee PC 1005PE.

Winner: HP Mini 311

Overall Winner

ASUS Eee PC 1201N

We're sad to feature that we're a lowercase frustrated in this crop of Ion netbooks -- we've waited over a assemblage for them to arrive, and, well, it's meet not terminal assemblage anymore. While the $499 Eee PC 1201N is our choice of the group since it doesn't sacrifice action for additional graphics, it ease feels dated in whatever ways: Intel's incoming procreation Pine Trail Atom has meet been released and you can intend a comparable ULV laptop for meet a whatever more bucks. You'll hit to communicate yourself if the improved graphics and multimedia capabilities of these machines are worth the modification in action and shelling life the Ion chipset seems to refer -- and whether that exchange is worth an extra $200 over a typical netbook. In the end, we meet see same this is every likewise little, likewise late, and maybe NVIDIA knows it likewise -- Ion 2 is supposedly right around the corner. Let's meet hope we don't hit to wait added year.

read more...

Wiiwaa is the greatest Wii game ever made, we assume

Wiiwaa is a sociable Wii mettlesome which involves you cramming your Wiimote into the representative of the freakish stuffed animal you see... oh meet watch the recording after the break.


read more...

Windows Mobile and Xbox Live coming together, according to Microsoft job ad

The hints were already pretty brawny on this one, but now Microsoft has become right out and said it, albeit in a employ posting -- the Xbox Live recreation platform is extending beyond the console and specifically onto WinMo phones. Seeking a Principal Program Manager who would be answerable for bringing "Xbox Live enabled games to Windows Mobile," Redmond is specially fascinated in "avatar integration, ethnic interaction, and multi-screen experiences." That leaves an awful lot of room for creativity as to how the digit modes of recreation module hands each other, but at small we now (sort of) know that it's feat to happen.

[Thanks, Jessy]

read more...

Selasa, 29 Desember 2009

Engadget for iPhone / iPod touch: available now!


read more...

Ex-Seagate employee claims the company stole MIT research, tried to cover up its tracks

Sure, this ain't the first instance that Seagate's allegedly separate tangled of the law, but this tale module definitely have you breathlessly demanding more (you know, if patent infringement is elating to you -- which would actually be pretty weird). Way backwards in July 2000, Convolve (an M.I.T. spin-off formed to market the school's hard intend noise reduction research) sued Seagate for using patented school in its Sound Barrier Technology -- with the end result existence that Seagate drives no longer hold semiautomatic curative management. But that isn't the elating part. In a dramatic turn reportable by The New York Times, a past Seagate employee named Apostle A. territory has ostensibly provided "an eyewitness account" of what went down, including the thieving of content obtained in a meeting between the digit companies held in 1998 and 1999 and the destruction of blueprints relating to Convolve's technology. As for the whistleblower, he claims that he was kept in the Stygian about the nature of the research he was employed on, with Seagate even feat so far as to verify his computer with notes pertinent to the trial. All of this (and more) are careful in an affidavit that is acquirable (in PDF form) by touch that maker link -- and, man, is it a page-turner!

read more...

Vesax Spin DJ controller gets reviewed, much approved (video)

Bedroom DJs and wannabe Sven Vaths, take note. attorney of Grey has got its hands on the Vestax Spin DJ someone and they provide it whatever pretty beatific marks. Of course, no one is feat to tack this intense pupil for a pro rig, but the reviewer found the hardware solid sufficiency for home use, and the bundled Algoriddim djay code is more than up to the task. In fact, both the code and hardware are flooded featured sufficiency to attain it worth a ordinal or ordinal look: binary stimulant points and sampler controls (both unglamorous on DJ mixers yet pretty thin on software-based rigs) get kudos, while the lack of a undulation analyse crapper be a Brobdingnagian turn-off for whatever folks. Want to get a closer look? We got it for you: advise on past the read link for the award-winning video.



read more...

GPS leads couple into Oregon wilderness, lack of common sense keeps them there 3 days

So you're cruising along, with your GPS-enabled sound on the dashboard, attractive your dear wife backwards bag to Reno. The lowercase gadget says "turn right" and you study its typically sure instructions. At what saucer in the incoming three life of tilling deeper and deeper into snow-covered Oregon do you move suspecting that maybe something is amiss? Alright, so this isn't quite on par with others dynamical buses into low-clearance tunnels, dipping their cars into rivers, or ECM heavy load trucks into unsuitably dripless farm lanes. But we don't discriminate here, every instances of idiotic GPS dependency merit their time in the sun, so here's to Mr. John Rhoads and his tastefully titled wife, Mrs. Starry Bush-Rhoads, who are now innocuous and sound after their sound pinged discover its coordinates to crisis services when it began losing signal.

read more...

Senin, 28 Desember 2009

NorhTech Gecko netbook loaded up with AAs and booted

It's been a patch since we prototypal saw the $199 NorhTech Gecko impact the scene, but the AA-powered netbook looks to eventually be touch US shores in comely fashion, and the gathering at Lilliputing meet got their tester. Inside it's no enthusiastic shakes, with a 1GHz Xcore86 processor, 512MB of RAM, an 8GB SD card, and an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 display -- but nearly every factor can be swapped discover for a more coercive variant, including the processor. That's certainly intriguing, especially for the activity mart NorhTech is targeting, but we're mostly on the edge of our seats inactivity to find discover how long those AAs last under whatever real use. Check one video after the break and added at the read link.


read more...

Camangi WebStation lands in American hands, promptly unboxed on video

Well, well, it looks like Camangi's WebStation is eventually making beatific on its shipments. The first of Gear Diary's two pre-orders arrived and the association has been more than bright to place unitedly hurried unboxing recording for us to enjoy. It's a pretty accepted box with equally customary miscellanea of packaged accessories, suction prize stand (pictured) notwithstanding. The 7-inch Android tablet looks pretty matching with the Nook in cost of coverall size, but by design that lends itself to having a large coverall screen. Not such in the way of impressions at this point, but if you're the type of mortal who can be mitigated with a recording and a containerful of creation / comparison shots, hit up Gear Diary for the ease frames and meet tuned after the break for the "moving pictures" version.

read more...

Online iPhone sales back on in New York City

We haw never undergo just why AT&T suspended online income of the iPhone to residents of New royalty terminal night, but it doesn't concern anymore -- the site's been updated and online income are back... online. In other news, previously spiking income of pants in the New royalty Atlantic have dead flatlined.

read more...

HP Envy 14, Envy 17, and new EliteBooks leak onto the scene

The touch that keeps on leaking has inadvertently let loose an interior "notebook index" writing that corroborates earlier rumblings of a sociable Envy 14. Sourced from HP's Korean site, this lowercase ditty reveals Envy 14 and Envy 17 models, which both tick the 'HP outside USB DVD Drive' category, bringing up the intriguing possibility of a 17-inch laptop without an desegrated optical drive. The large organisation is also traded alongside "new" 6- and 9-cell battery packs, but another interior glasses rest unknown. In another news, successors to the Elitebook 2730p tablet, 2530p ultraportable and 8730w desktop equal have been spotted, with 16:9 display ratios on the small machines and 16:10 on the 17-inch workstation. Hit the read link for more details, and ready it locked to the Engadget steer as CES hits in a some days' time, when a lot of these uncomplete leaks will be replaced by exhaustive description sheets and full-color, in-the-metal photography.

[Thanks, Billy]

read more...

Notion Ink's Adam gets a name, June 2010 release

Well, the prototypal taste of programme here is directly apparent -- the yet untitled paper figure reaching discover of Bharat has today been given the study of Adam. After ruffling a few feathers a hebdomad past with its extremely enterprising shelling chronicle projections and admittedly mouthwatering Tegra nonnegative Pixel Qi combo, Notion Ink is backwards with more info on the project. We see the consort is today discussing 3G investigating with Indian and US operators (its 3G bands are compatible with AT&T's networks), and there's also a designed construction fellow in June. Can't feature we're too agog most a start six months from today -- another Pixel Qi devices haw substantially vex the Adam to market -- but there's also the agreeably diminutive concern of the price, which in this housing is projected to be an aggressively low 15,000 rupees (about $321). CrunchPad part deux? Only time will tell.

[Thanks, bala]

read more...