Continue reading WeTab tablet spotted running MeeGo at IFA

WeTab tablet spotted running MeeGo at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the new fourth-generation iPod touch: it's so much like an iPhone that it has a Phone app (wait, what?). Better yet, if you do a Spotlight search on it, it'll return results from a messaging app it's not supposed to have. How's that for value? This would all be a great big enigmatic mystery if we weren't ourselves familiar with the practice (and pitfalls) of splicing disparate images into unholy creations. Well, at least now Microsoft isn't alone in making self-published Photoshop gaffes.

P.S. -- There's one more misplaced app on this magical device, but we'll let you figure it out for yourself!

[Thanks, Michael and Rory]

Update: Apple's now finally rid itself of the ignoble image above, but the lower two remain.

Continue reading Apple sucks at Photoshop too

Apple sucks at Photoshop too originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember when a 1.4GHz processor was deemed the world's fastest? Man, that was ages ago. Recently, IBM has laid claim to that very record, with its 5.2GHz z196 processor being the focal point. Of course, we've seen a number of consumer chips hum along at speeds well beyond that (thanks to sophisticated cooling systems, of course), but this here enterprise chip does it without any liquid nitrogen-based assistance. It's a four-core slab that was manufactured using the outfit's 45 nanometer technology, boasting 1.4 billion transistors and the ability to handle more than 50 billion instructions per second. Interestingly, Fujitsu's Venus CPU is said to handle a staggering 128 billion calculations per second, so we're guessing that IBM won't be snagging this crown without any debate from the competition. At any rate, there's a very convincing video waiting for you after the break, and no, you won't find this thing in your next Alienware anytime soon.

Continue reading IBM claims world's fastest processor with 5.2GHz z196

IBM claims world's fastest processor with 5.2GHz z196 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Super AMOLED 7-inch tablet was highly unlikely to ever materialize in a marketable form, but that didn't stop many of us from dreaming about one. Consequently, there was palpable disappointment when Samsung failed to deliver on our unicorn hallucinations with the Galaxy Tab, but the company says not to worry. The Tab's 7 inches of glorious visuals are being handled by a Super TFT panel, surely the Korean company's answer to Sony's Super LCD. It's a screen technology that has been developed "alongside" Super AMOLED and just so happens to offer better battery performance and an obvious saving in cost. We're usually inclined to consider such moves cynical marketing ploys -- keep the Super branding, drop the actual super hardware -- but the SLCD display on the HTC Desire gives us faith that perhaps TFTs really can be souped up. Video after the break.

Continue reading Samsung excuses absence of Super AMOLED on Galaxy Tab with Super TFT (video)

Samsung excuses absence of Super AMOLED on Galaxy Tab with Super TFT (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here we go again. Another FCC filing of an unannounced product, this time in the form of Creative's Sound Blaster Wireless MultiPlay system. We're looking at a trio of new products including the MultiPlay Transmitter with its USB extension dock, a rather clunky looking Touch Controller (that we've seen before) resembling an old Sonos CR100, and Wireless Receiver. The idea here is to attach the transmitter to your PC and install the Creative Music Server software, connect the receiver to a pair of amplified speakers and then control the whole kit with the supplied controller. You can even push the audio out to Creative's existing wireless speakers or headphones as long as you don't exceed four devices in total. The transmitter and receivers pair automatically when turned on and you can attach additional audio devices (like an old CD player) for broadcast via a 3.5-mm stereo cable. Creative's pitching this as a multi-room solution with the ability to setup and then control zones of music throughout your house over a 2.4GHz connection. In other words, don't expect it to be very robust -- not when the user manual explicitly warns: "Refrain from doing large file transfers via the wireless internet or Bluetooth connection while you are streaming music." Expect it to be cheap though.

Creative Sound Blaster Wireless MultiPlay System untethered from FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yeah, we thought netbooks were old news too, but if they all start strapping up with the latest in 4G connectivity, we might have to give them another look. The Samsung N350 is just such a machine, with dual-mode LTE and HSPA+ built in. You won't be surprised that almost everything else is par for the affordable laptop market course: a dual-core Atom N550 CPU, that boilerplate 1,024 x 600 resolution on a 10.1-inch matte screen, 250GB of storage, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, a multicard reader, and a trifecta of USB ports. The basic wireless options are keeping up with modernity, however, with 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 on board, both of which are nice to see. The 3-cell battery should last up to 6.7 hours and the whole package is expected to retail for €429 ($553) in Germany this autumn. You can probably expect a rebadge under the Go label for the US and a relatively swift launch over here as well.

Continue reading Samsung N350 throws LTE and HSPA+ into an intriguing new netbook proposition

Samsung N350 throws LTE and HSPA+ into an intriguing new netbook proposition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tapani Kaskinen is Nokia's Senior Comms Manager, so it's fitting that he'd be the first person from the company to communicate a solid release date for its long-awaited N8 handset. The gent in question told Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti that advance orders of the N8 will "begin shipping 30 September." Bear in mind we're chewing through a machine translation here, but that part's pretty unmistakable. It also meshes perfectly with earlier speculation surrounding Nokia purchasing Google AdWords -- that indicated a one-week exclusive starting on September 23rd for Nokia's UK online store, which, if you do the math, again points to a wide release at the end of the month. We asked Nokia about it ourselves and they're remaining mum on the matter, but chances are looking pretty good that October will start with the N8 finally in eager users' hands.

Nokia N8 launches September 30, says senior manager originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For all the benefits of touchscreen keyboards, there are many who maintain a steadfast allegiance to the gods of tactile feedback. So how does this Mini Key case with sliding QWERTY for the iPhone 4 strike you? Unfortunately, the keys were a bit hard to press on the backlit prototype keypad handled by Engadget Spanish, and it links to the iPhone via Bluetooth, not the iPhone's dock connector (there's a cutout at the bottom for a cable to pass through). And no, all that added bulk still doesn't include an extended life battery pack. Perhaps some of this will change before it goes on sale before the end of the year for $60 / €60, we doubt it though.

Nuu Mini Key adds a bulky physical keyboard to the iPhone 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solar farms are swell and all, but they aren't exactly fit for laboratories or studio apartments. Thanks to new discoveries by gurus at the University of Birmingham, though, we could be on our way to a far more diminutive method of creating clean energy. As the story goes, we could soon be using microbes to transform wastes in metals into energy. The team managed to pinpoint Hydrogenase enzymes and BioPd in their research, which they believe can be used as catalysts for the treatment of persistent pollutants. The overriding goal, however, is to "develop a one-step technology that allows for the conversion of metallic wastes into high value catalysts for green chemistry and clean energy generation," but it's difficult to say at this point how close they are to realizing it. The best news? This is bound to start a new rash of Cash 4 Gold commercials.

Scientists using metallic wastes to generate clean energy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Usually we'd advise you not to read too much into this -- we'd point out that this was a themed ad served up before the showing of Lawrence of Arabia at London's Secret Cinema event -- but what the hell: Microsoft says the revolution's coming. It's on now!

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 ad promises 'the revolution is coming' (video)

Windows Phone 7 ad promises 'the revolution is coming' (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Carl Zeiss keeps on making minor improvements to its Cinemizer head-mounted display, announced way back in 2008 and intended to be the most amazing way to watch stuff on your iPod. They didn't exactly catch on then, and two years later we're not entirely sure that the latest revision will either. The tiny screens that sit a fraction of an inch from your eyeballs have been upgraded to OLED, which should make them bright and lovely as they pummel your rods and cones, but sadly they're still stuck in VGA land -- 640 x 480 is not a lot of pixels these days. This version also pledges greater compatibility with non-Apple devices, a welcome change, and even more welcome is the new visual styling, which makes you look a little less walleyed than the last model. Despite this the price hasn't changed much, estimated to be around €400 ($515), but that's still a lot to pay just to have the coolest Frozone costume ever.

Carl Zeiss Cinemizer 3D Plus glasses get OLED infusion, still no attention originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We didn't get to hear them for ourselves at IFA 2010, and it sounds like we missed out -- a pair of publications are already showering Sleek Audio's nigh-bulletproof SA7 buds with praise. The tightly-woven carbon fiber casing may look stylish, but both SlashGear and TrustedReviews were even more impressed by the sound, calling the combination of dual-armature drivers and one-piece aluminum housing "more precise" and "stonkingly good" respectively. Both noted hugely powerful bass that sounded fantastic alongside the trebles and mids, rather than drowning them out, and high frequencies that remained comfortable to listen to even at higher volume -- a mark of excellence, to be sure. Of course, one typically expects quality audio when slapping four Benjamins down -- we'll have to hear how these stack up against other audiophile buds.

Sleek Audio's SA7 earphones briefly tested, dubbed 'stonkingly good' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like the mystery of Nokia's Symbian^3 slider may soon be solved -- Reuters is reporting that the company will introduce its new "flagship" E7 smartphone at its Nokia World event in London next week, and it says that the device will pack both a "large" touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard. That's further backed up by the existence of an XML file on Nokia's own site, which seemingly confirms that the E7 does indeed run Symbian^3, and that it boasts a 640 x 360 display along with that QWERTY keyboard. Not much more than that at the moment, but those previous leaks suggest that we're basically looking at a slider version of the Nokia N8.

[Thanks, Wes]

Nokia said to be launching E7 smartphone next week originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, there little guy! That's the Toshiba AC100 -- an Android 2.1 smartbook with Toshiba's custom user interface -- on show in the UK, where you can now grab one up. The 10.1-inch, 1.9-pounder has yet to show its face anywhere near the US, but as for specs it's got a 1GHz Tegra 250 SoC, a 32GB SSD, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 802.11n WiFi, optional 3G, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an HDMI port. While it's listed on Amazon you still can't actually order one of these bad boys stateside, but if you're in the UK, you can grab one up for £292.52 (almost $450) for the non-3G model. Video of the little guy in action back in June is below.

Continue reading Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom

Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We're not quite sure what to make of this, as our first reaction is to label it a fan made render and move on. But it's a very detailed render, so let's hear this one out in between bites of freshly grilled burger (or whatever you do to celebrate Labor Day; we think more working is an appropriate course of action, but to each his or her own). So what you see surfaced on the Digital Photography Review forums is an apparent render of the Samsung NX100 and a diagram pictured after the break -- labeled by number but missing the complementary key. We still don't know much about the forum poster nor the images' origins, but later on he or she did provide supposed dimensions and some display specifications: 4.74 x 2.8 x 1.36 inches, 9.95 ounces, an external GPS receptor, an external EVF with 201K resolution, and a (non-articulating) display that's 921K AMOLED. We're intrigued to say the least, but nothing tangible at the moment.

Continue reading Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface

Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, sure -- a few people have called Google's Nexus One a "superphone," but suddenly, that nickname has taken on a whole new level of meaning. A team of talent from MIT has put its head down in order to concoct a new Android application that can come darn close to solving complex computational problems in just a fraction of the time that it'd take a bona fide supercomputer. The goal here is to let researchers and scientists convert to Google's mobile OS, but if you aren't falling for that one, it's also designed to "let engineers perform complicated calculations in the field, and to better control systems for vehicles or robotic systems." Of course, the models that are hosted on the phone do require a supercomputer to create, but once certain formulas are embedded, the app can then compute approximations in mere seconds rather than hours. Best of all, rbAPPmit is available for download as well speak in the source link below, but we'd probably wait for the (presumably thick) user guide to surface before diving in headfirst.

[Thanks, Alasdair]

MIT app turns your Android phone into a supercomputer... of sorts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reviews are starting to trickle out for Pansonic's LX3 successor, the DMC-LX5, and so far they all seem to echo similar sentiment. The form factor hearkens back to its Micro Four Thirds darling GF1, at least from the top, with "dinky buttons" (in CNET UK's words) on the back reminding you of its point-and-shoot bloodline. The pictures are solid if not characteristically warm -- and the ability to simultaneously produce RAW and JPEG files is a nice touch -- as is the choice of either Motion JPEG or AVCHD Lite video. The universal issue with this camera is the price; that £449.99 tag (the equivalent of $691 in US currency) doesn't quite seem to match the offerings, especially when it's about on par with entry-level DSLRs with interchangeable lenses (albeit without the slim look). As PhotographyBLOG puts it, Panny's gotta hard case to make for a camera "that looks, at first glance to be very similar to a £299 model." Hey, a hardware switch for changing the aspect ratio (just above lens barrel; 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1) doesn't come cheap. Much more detail can be found in the reviews below.

Note: It's worth mentioning that this camera can be had for $500 at Amazon right now. Still pricey, but not $700 pricey.

Read - PhotographyBLOG
Read - CNET UK
Read - Pocket-lint

Lumix DMC-LX5 review roundup: great hardware for a not-so-great price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U of M laser mimics helicopter heat signatures to thwart missiles originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like we can take the guesswork out of today's leaked render, after all. A generous (and, as usual, anonymous) reader just sent us a handful of pictures of what appears to be -- quite convincingly, we might add -- the Samsung NX100 we've been eying since a low-res snapshot came to light last month. According to our tipster, video on the camera is great and changing settings is easy, on par with DSLRs, but the of course size still doesn't compare to point-and-shoots. And to repeat the earlier specs, now that they seem more likely: 4.74 x 2.8 x 1.36 inches, 9.95 ounces, an external GPS receptor, an external EVF with 201K resolution, and a (non-articulating) display that's 921K AMOLED. A shame we can't claim those fingers for our own just yet, but patience is a virtue. Or something like that -- it's not like we have a choice, might as well say something to feel better about it.

Exclusive: Samsung NX100 in the wild originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in 1988, Russian engineer Vladimir Demin combined a bunch of solenoids (loops of copper wire) and a Bayan (a Russian accordian), to create a self-playable instrument controlled by his awesome, self-built computer. Yes, we're impressed, and you will be too, if you take a look at the video below.

Continue reading Computer controlled Bayan from 1988 makes us want to go back to the past

Computer controlled Bayan from 1988 makes us want to go back to the past originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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