Technology news

Fujitsu announces Stylistic Android tablet for taking care of business, working overtime Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:28:00 EDT

The BlackBerry PlayBook blues got you down? Fujitsu thinks you should consider riding the Android train to work. The company today announced the awkwardly named Stylistic M350/CA2 Android tablet, a seven-inch enterprise-focused slate aimed at folks looking for a sales terminal, catalog displayer or e-reader. The Stylistic has a... Read more

Apple TV gets into video discovery, adds movie and TV show Genius Recommendations Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:16:00 EDT

Apple added a new wrinkle to its hobby overnight, as AppleInsider reports the Genius recommendation feature added in iTunes 8 now offers up suggestions for movies and TV shows. The new Apple TV feature appears to have been switched on from the back end servers with no firmware update,... Read more

Nokia establishes stance on conflict minerals in formal policy Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:43:00 EDT

Recent weeks have seen a swell of interest in corporate responsibility, particularly with regard to technology manufacturing and supply chains. Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook affirmed his company's commitment to ethically and environmentally sound practices, evoking sentiments that were echoed today in a similar announcement from Nokia.... Read more

T-Mobile confirms Full Monty subscribers are capped at 1Mb/s, risqué plan becomes tame (updated: no speed caps) Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:13:00 EDT

Uh-oh. Looks like T-Mobile's Full Monty subscribers in the UK will be getting much less than they'd originally bargained for. T-Mo's British support unit recently confirmed that the carrier has capped speeds on its "all-in" unlimited plan at a rather dismal 1Mb/s -- in other words, this Full Monty... Read more

Google TV 3.2 update enhances HLS video streaming support, Plex update takes advantage Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:52:00 EDT

The Google TV update that rolled out to Sony units earlier this week (no word on the Revue, yet) brought tweaks to Chrome and support for Blu-ray 3D playback on the player, but that's not all. The bump to Android 3.2 also improved hooks for developers to access channel... Read more

Nike+ FuelBand's internals get splayed at the FCC Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:37:00 EDT

All of these wrist-mounted fitness gizmos are pretty nifty, but we always wonder how they get those rigid circuit boards into such an unsuitable form-factor. Well, thanks to those scalpel-happy boffins at the FCC's underground bunker, wonder no more. Nike's FuelBand was wheeled in on a trolley and... Read more

Netflix teams with eyeIO to lower bandwidth use on movie night Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:44:00 EDT

Kicking up a fuss about Netflix hogging all your bandwidth? Perhaps the company's latest partnership could induce a rapid change of heart. The streaming service has paired up with eyeIO in hopes of keeping bandwidth usage during streams to a minimum, which they claim won't affect the content's... Read more

Oops! Motorola sold refurbished Xooms without deleting previous owners' data Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:52:00 EDT

Usually, when passwords and personal information are exposed, it's because someone hacked a company's not-so-secure system. Motorola, however, managed to put people's info at risk without such malfeasance when it failed to wipe the memory of a batch of refurbished Xooms. The tablets in question were sold by Woot.com... Read more

ComScore: Android and iOS gallop ahead, US smartphone usage approaches 100 million Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:03:00 EDT

The latest report is in from ComScore, and as you might expect, the news is sunshine and roses for the crews at Google and Apple. Both companies platforms charted some worthwhile month-over-month gains, as Android is estimated to account for 47.3 percent of smartphones in the US, while iOS... Read more

webOS Enyo 1.0 now available to all, just requires patch and patience Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:18:00 EDT

HP's Enyo framework is an essential ingredient for allowing new apps to work on webOS devices with different resolutions, but due to some sort of ethnocentric hiccup, v1.0 hasn't officially reached all international webOS phones and tablets. Fortunately, WebOS Internals has prepared a nice little Preware install package that... Read more

AT&T seeks to impose conditions on Dish LTE network, FCC to settle wireless squabble Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:44:00 EDT

You know the saying, second place is the first loser? Well, it looks like AT&T, which recently saw its attempt to absorb T-Mobile thwarted, is living up to that adage by petitioning the FCC to impose an "overly aggressive buildout" of Dish's planned mobile network. In a recent filing to... Read more

WiFi Kindle Touch gets its passport, now available internationally Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:21:00 EDT

Ever since Amazon unveiled its cheap-as-chips Kindle Touch, the thing's been selling like mad here in the US. However, our friends on other continents haven't been able to enjoy swiping and tapping its multitouch E Ink display -- until now, that is. Amazon failed to alert the masses with a... Read more

FCC Fridays: February 3, 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EDT

We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there individually,... Read more

Xbox co-creator brings together Atari 'dream team' for mobile gaming startup Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:38:00 EDT

A new mobile gaming startup that's yet to release a single game isn't the sort of thing we'd normally cover 'round here, but the story behind Los Angeles-based Innovative Leisure is anything but ordinary. The man behind the company is the co-creator of the Xbox, Seamus Blackley, and he's... Read more

Galaxy Nexus and other CDMA devices removed from Google Support pages Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:16:00 EDT

Some of you may have noticed that the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus is no longer listed as a supported, official developer device by Google. Despite rumors to the contrary, it doesn't appear this has anything to do with the kerfuffle over Wallet, but instead centers around technical... Read more

Verizon's ZTE Jetpack flies through FCC, arrival time still unknown Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:01:00 EDT

Do you wish you had your own personal Jetpack? Well, you may not have to wait much longer for ZTE's version -- the EuFi I890, announced at CES last month -- to come out, if its entry into the records of the FCC are any indication. It may... Read more

All PlayBooks go to heaven: Telus leak points to end-of-life status Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:39:00 EDT

This is the end, dear PlayBook-admiring friends. That is to say, it's the end-of-life for RIM's first unsuccessful stab at tablet computing. Unsurprisingly, the marketing blitzkrieg that saw J.Lo and the Flash Gordon theme awkwardly peddle the flailing tab hasn't done much to elevate sales or consumer interest, forcing... Read more

Steve Appleton, CEO of Micron, dies in plane crash at 51 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:18:00 EDT

Sad news to report this Friday. Steve Appleton, the CEO and Chairman of Micron, died this morning in an airplane crash shortly after takeoff from the Boise, Idaho airport. He was the only one aboard, and was piloting a fixed wing, single engine kit aircraft. Appleton started working at... Read more

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, live at 5PM ET! Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EDT

Myriam Joire, Brad Molen, Joseph Volpe and Dante Cesa are all armed with mics this week, and they're ready to use and abuse them. While the podcast could go any direction, we promise one thing: we won't be talking about RIM for a full hour and twenty minutes... Read more

Airport Utility 6.0 flies right into the iCloud, leaves old AirPorts behind Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:37:00 EDT

The latest version of Apple's Airport Utility software has arrived, alongside those iCloud-supporting firmware updates for the company's network hardware, including the AirPort Extreme, the AirPort Express and Time Capsule. Unfortunately, Airport Utility 6.0 doesn't support pre-2007 models, that is; 802.11g-only devices. As we already know, iCloud support requires... Read more

Yahoo unveils app search page for Android and iOS, because we need it Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:16:00 EDT

Yahoo may be sliding down the search engine totem pole, but the company is doing its best to climb back up, with a new space dedicated to apps. This week, Yahoo added a new "Apps" tab to its search page, giving users a new portal into both the... Read more

HP feels the heat, recalls 1040 and 1050 fax machines Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:53:00 EDT

Hey, office workers -- listen up. You know that cheap, god-forsaken fax machine that you've come to loathe something fierce? Well, if it's an HP unit, go ahead and peep the model number on the front -- don't worry, we'll wait. If it says either 1040 or 1050, in... Read more

ADZero bamboo smartphone prototypes hands-on (video) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:28:00 EDT

We were so beguiled by AD's bamboo-bound smartphone that we had to track down the designer to get some hands-on time with these work-in-progress prototypes. We met up with Kieron-Scott Woodhouse (pun unintended) and he offered to bring along several of the latest prototypes for us to get... Read more

Canalys: More smartphones than PCs shipped in 2011 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:02:00 EDT

2011: the year Smartphones supplanted computers, at least according to the bundle of spreadsheets that just arrived from Canalys Research. Vendors shipped (shipped, not sold) 488 million of the devices, compared to 414.6 million "PCs," which erroneously includes Tablet PCs of all shapes and sizes. Looking at Smartphones... Read more

New super-Earth detected, 'best candidate' for supporting life Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:37:00 EDT

A new potentially life-bearing "super-Earth" has been discovered orbiting a relatively nearby star. Described as the "best candidate" for supporting liquid water -- and therefore life -- the planet (GJ 667Cc) is believed to be about 4.5 times the size of Earth. The parent star (GJ 667C) is 22... Read more

Creative pumps out $99 HN-900 noise-canceling headphones Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:12:00 EDT

Fact: not everyone's willing to pay a premium to enhance their personal listening experience. Fortunately for those of you who like noise cancellation and a flush bank account, Creative's just taken the wraps off its $99 headset that'll do the trick. The HN-900 offers great features -- aside... Read more

Nokia Hello: breaks down borders, gets the drinks in Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:46:00 EDT

Ever wanted to order a tea and coffee, but found language to be a barrier? Then say bonjour, to Nokia Hello. Making creative use of NFC, Nokia Hello users can touch phones to exchange greetings, pleasantries, as well as the aforementioned beverage order. Mild joking aside, the project has... Read more

Dropbox offers up to 5GB of free space to anyone willing to go beta Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:22:00 EDT

Here's some good news for all you Dropboxers out there: the company is offering a bundle of free storage space to anyone who tries the beta version of its new Experimental software. It's really quite simple: just download the test program, upload a photo, and instantly get 500MB... Read more

Rhapsody music streaming lands on Android tablets with 'magazine-style' app Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:57:00 EDT

If you use Rhapsody to satisfy your $10-per-month musical appetite, then here's another way to digest. The service can now be accessed through an app tailored to Android slates, featuring music discovery tools like expert playlists and guides, original editorial content, and exclusive recordings -- all on top... Read more

Distro Issue 26: Smartwatch face-off, Ryan Block and more Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:30:00 EDT

Are you ready for a showdown? You're in luck! In the latest edition of our fine weekly, Myriam Joire tackles wrist-top computing, comparing the inPulse and WIMM One smartwatches. Also in this issue, Zachary Lutz takes the BlackBerry Curve 9360 for a spin; Dana Wollman puts HP's latest Envy... Read more

Taking next-gen augmented reality for an ARM-powered walk around the block Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EDT

We know what you're thinking, because we initially thought it too, but this isn't your average AR. With the help of chip designer ARM, a number of developers are building a new type of augmented reality that is altogether more powerful than the usual sprite-on-a-surface routine. Instead of requiring... Read more

Engadget Podcast 279 - 02.03.2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:30:00 EDT

If a Nintendo Slide Pad slides into a garbage can in the Forest of Illusion, but no gamers are around to take a low-res 3D video of it, does it make a sound? Who would win in a timed Farmville match, Google's new privacy policy reminders or the evil... Read more

Jawbone Big Jambox packs on the pounds, rears its fat head at the FCC Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:57:00 EDT

Despite occupying a questionable space on the scale of must-have audio goods, Jawbone's little Bluetooth speaker that could managed to win us over with its ample range. Now, that stylish peripheral is about to get shunted out of the spotlight, making way for a plus-sized sibling. As recent FCC... Read more

Megaupload co-founder's bail appeal rejected Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:21:00 EDT

While users housing content on the troubled Megaupload site were given a two-week reprieve, one of its co-founders is having less luck. Kim Dotcom has lost his appeal for bail, with prosecutors fearing that he would flee from New Zealand and return to his native Germany, possibly making him... Read more

Corning and Samsung ink new joint venture, plot Lotus Glass future for OLED devices Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:48:00 EDT

Anyone keeping a close eye on the mobile market knows that Samsung and Super AMOLED, much like peanut butter and jelly, are inextricable bosom buddies. So, this recent tech marriage between the Korean electronics giant and Corning (of Gorilla Glass fame) shouldn't come as much surprise for fans of super... Read more

Samsung Galaxy S Advance snapped in the wild, pricing in tow Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:08:00 EDT

Sure, we've read the specs and we've seen the press shots, but we didn't expect to get up close and personal with Samsung's Galaxy S Advance (GT-I9070) until Mobile World Congress later this month. Fortunately, Filipino tech blog TechPinas was able to get a hands-on with the handset --... Read more

EU regulators ask Google to 'pause' its privacy changes, need more time to investigate Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:46:00 EDT

Google has gone to great lengths to clarify its revamped privacy policy, but a regulatory body in the European Union thinks the company is moving a little too fast. Today, European regulators formally requested that Google "pause" its rollout, in order to give the EU more time to... Read more

Develop an Android app, get a free Blackberry PlayBook Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:15:00 EDT

Still wary of dropping $200 on a BlackBerry Playbook? How does "free" sound? That's what RIM is offering to Android developers today, as part of an overt attempt to spur interest in its App World platform. RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders announced the offer yesterday via... Read more

Hiroshi Ishiguro's android mannequin creeps out Japanese shoppers (video) Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:32:00 EDT

If you didn't think mannequins were creepy enough already, maybe this will change your mind. In an attempt to lure shoppers, Japanese department store Takashimiya installed an eerily lifelike interactive robot for its Valentine's window display. The retailer called on robotics guru Hiroshi Ishiguro to provide the humanoid dummy,... Read more

Panasonic 2012 Q3: $9 billion loss, Sanyo writedowns, restructuring Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:54:00 EDT

Panasonic's released its 2012 quarterly report (its financial year runs from summer to summer) and concedes it's been as bad for them as it was for Sony and Sharp. It's blaming the Japanese Earthquake for damaging its supply chain, a strong yen for keeping prices high, plus having to... Read more