Engadget’s top posts, 2008

Well, the year has come and gone, and with it, our 365 — or in this case, 366 — days of posting. We’ve seen some pretty amazing stuff, gotten to play with a stack of awesome gear, and watched the site grow by leaps and bounds (we just had our biggest day ever in October). We thought we’d cap the year off with a look back at the posts that got the most heat. One thing that’s clear? People really love (or hate) Apple. Check out the top 20 of the year below, and be sure to truck over to Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD for their year-end round-ups!

Top 20 most trafficked posts of 2008 (in order)

    1. Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008
    2. Live from Apple’s “spotlight turns to notebooks” event
    3. Live from Apple’s ‘Let’s Rock’ event in San Francisco
    4. Live from Macworld 2008: Steve Jobs keynote
    5. Live from Apple’s iPhone SDK press conference
    6. iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th
    7. The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker
    8. iPhone 3G review
    9. BlackBerry Storm review
    10. Meet the T-Mobile G1
    11. Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
    12. Woman files $54m lawsuit against Best Buy for losing laptop
    13. The HTC Touch Pro
    14. MacBook Air review
    15. Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop
    16. Worst parents in the world punk kid into thinking he got an Xbox 360
    17. T-Mobile G1 review
    18. T-Mobile G1 first hands-on (updated)
    19. iPhone firmware 2.0 hands-on
    20. The Simpsons mocks (m)Apple

Top 20 most trafficked posts during 2008 (in order; non-2008 posts in bold)

    1. Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008
    2. Live from Apple’s “spotlight turns to notebooks” event
    3. Live from Apple’s ‘Let’s Rock’ event in San Francisco
    4. Live from Macworld 2008: Steve Jobs keynote
    5. Live from Apple’s iPhone SDK press conference
    6. iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th
    7. The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker
    8. HOW-TO: Get music OFF your iPod
    9. iPhone 3G review
    10. BlackBerry Storm review
    11. Meet the T-Mobile G1
    12. Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
    13. Turn your PC into a Mac
    14. HOW-TO: Get videos and DVDs onto your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) for free
    15. Woman files $54m lawsuit against Best Buy for losing laptop
    16. The HTC Touch Pro
    17. iPhone unlocked: AT&T loses iPhone exclusivity, August 24, 2007, 12:00PM EDT
    18. MacBook Air review
    19. Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop
    20. Blu-ray vs HD DVD: State of the Division

Top 15 most trafficked posts of the year, sans Apple-only posts (in order)

    1. BlackBerry Storm review
    2. Meet the T-Mobile G1
    3. Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
    4. Woman files $54m lawsuit against Best Buy for losing laptop
    5. The HTC Touch Pro
    6. Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop
    7. Worst parents in the world punk kid into thinking he got an Xbox 360
    8. T-Mobile G1 review
    9. T-Mobile G1 first hands-on (updated)
    10. Little old lady suing Sony, Samsung, Nokia and everyone else for infringing on her laser patents
    11. Sony gets official with PSP-3000
    12. The PS3 Laptop: from Ben Heck to Engadget with love
    13. Holiday Gift Guide: $1001+
    14. Best Buy offers HD DVD owners $10 million in gift cards, trade in, shoulder to cry on
    15. HP’s UMPC 2133 revealed

A few other interesting numbers for you:

Total posts on Engadget in 2008: 11,878
Total number of comments: 697,672 (and counting)
Average comments per post: 58.7

Combined Engadget classic, HD, and Mobile stats:

Posts: 21,880
Comments: 853,044
Average comments per post: 39.0

Filed under:

Engadget’s top posts, 2008 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dev-Team teases v2.2-compatible iPhone 3G unlock for the New Year

Ever since the Dev-Team kinda sorta promised that they would have a neatly packaged iPhone 3G unlock ready for release by the year’s end, we’ve all been waiting on pins and needles, counting down the moments until freedom was in hand yet again. Now, a cryptic message on the crew’s blog has been followed up with a not-at-all secretive image (shown above), which shows that whatever magic they’ve got going on will work with the latest (v2.2) iPhone 3G firmware. According to a related writeup at yellowsn0w, we’re clearly told that the unlock tool will be made available by midnight PST at the latest, though we’re hoping those guys have their AM / PM mixed up — otherwise, you might be waiting until noontime tomorrow. At any rate, now you’ve more than a day off and black eyed peas to look forward to tomorrow, right?

[Via MobileCrunch]

Filed under:

Dev-Team teases v2.2-compatible iPhone 3G unlock for the New Year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Nero 7 Is Now Vista Compatible

This article was written on October 24, 2006 by CyberNet.

Nero 7 It took a little while and some frustrated Vista users but Nero released a Vista compatible version over a week ago. Thanks to DanBart for pointing this out in the comments otherwise I don’t know if I would have gone to see if it was compatible yet.

Surviving without Nero was quite tedious but there were a few applications that I used along the way that helped me cope. One of those programs was ImgBurn which allows you to burn CD/DVD images using the free software. It is definitely nice but you’ll run into limitations.

Also in the comments OldManDeath said that Dell had Nero 7 for $59.99 after the $20 mail-in rebate. This is far from a bad deal so if you have yet to purchase the software this is a pretty good deal. Hope everyone is as happy as I am to see the new Nero!

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

Microsoft preparing for new layoffs?

A new report from Fudzilla claims that Microsoft is getting ready to lay off 15,000 employees, or about 17% of its worldwide staff. The axe will apparently fall on January 15th, exactly one week before its second quarter earnings report, and they expect MSN division to be hit hardest, while the successful Xbox crew will probably make it out relatively unscathed. Meanwhile, an anonymous blogger who goes by the name Mini-Microsoft and claims to be an employee well-versed in the goings-on inside the company has been fielding questions from other purported Microsoft workers on recent cutback concerns. This past Monday he posted a handful of anonymous comments saying that the rumored layoffs aren’t happening — at least not in January — although a re-organization might be in the cards. Both reports should be taken with a grain of salt, but one thing’s for certain — Windows 7 is gonna rule.

[Via Joystiq]

Read – Fudzilla report
Read – Mini-Microsoft

Filed under:

Microsoft preparing for new layoffs? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Zune Freeze Result of Leap Year: Microsoft

 

Zune30gb_2

It was the Z2k problem after all, a glitch related to the inability of the device clock to handle the extra day in a leap year that froze thousands of Zune media players Wednesday morning.

"A bug in the internal clock
driver related to the way the device handles a leap year affected Zune users," said the company in a statement. "That being the case,
the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to
January 1, 2009."

Early Wednesday users worldwide woke to find their 30GB Zune devices freezing. Without an immediate response from Microsoft, users flooded support groups and blogs to speculate on what could have gone wrong. Many suggested that Zune devices may have been facing the equivalent of the feared Y2k bug, a glitch that was supposed to fell computers in year 2000 as many older programs used the last two digits to represent the year instead of the whole four digits.

Zune users suspected something similar might have occurred with the player as its internal clock may have been incapable of handle the extra day in the year.

Now Microsoft says they were right. The company said the "widespread" issue affected the 2006 30GB model of the device.

The problem should fix itself, says Microsoft. The internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices should automatically reset tomorrow noon GMT. "By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power
before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your
device is recharged, then turn it back on," said Microsoft in a statement.

Microsoft recommended users with frozen Zunes just let the battery drain out instead of opening up the device.

Zune Pass subscribers may need to sync their device with their PCs to refresh the rights to the
subscription content on their device.

Microsoft Zune Support Page

Photo: (raybdbomb/Flickr)





Add to Reddit
Add to Facebook
Add to digg



New OLED Printing Process Copies Old Model, Creates Rolled-up Displays

 

Oleddsc8042

A research project funded by the European Union has developed a cheaper and faster system to manufacture flexible OLED displays.

Oleddsc8053
According to researchers of project ROLLED, ramping up the production of the energy-efficient displays will accelerate the availability of associated future applications, like wearable displays and rolled up e-Ink newspapers.

Fittingly, the manufacturing process that Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre came up with is similar to that of regular newspaper printing. OLEDs are printed directly on top of flexible protective films (like the old roll-to-roll ‘pressing’ of the papers), where the resulting displays are rolled through in a single sheet that is later separated into individual pieces.

Currently, most of the OLEDs used in consumer electronics devices, like those of the Sony XEL-1 TV, are produced in a glass substrate. It’s a process that often lasts a long time, and is generally inefficient and wasteful.

In order for the OLED printing to work, the researchers developed new printable ‘nano-particle oxide (ITO) coatings’ that form the anode needed to drive an electric current between itself and and the cathode layers, lighting up the organic layer that forms the meat of the display in between.

What is also remarkable is how thin they’ve managed to make the completed OLED sheet. Each roll is .20 millimeters, or about as thick as three sheets of paper.

The ROLLED project isn’t the only one to figure out that the old/new printing process is a good idea.

Flexible_display_rolloutEarlier this year, the main research group at General Electric produced a similar equipment module that mass-manufactures large, flexible OLED screens. GE is also focusing on developing a longer lasting OLED through more efficient diodes. In addition, companies as varied as LG Philips, Fujitsu and Sony have all teased flexible-displays with similar applications in mind.

According to Arto Maaninen, a manager for VTT, the first type of OLEDs that will likely come out of the project will be of the two-color variety and are likely to be used for ID packaging.

Lead photo: VTT

See also:





Add to Reddit
Add to Facebook
Add to digg



Zune 30GB brickification acknowledged, Microsoft says to wait it out

For all of you Zune 30 owners who woke up this morning to find your PMP frozen in despair at the thought of spending another year alone, Microsoft has finally acknowledged their boo-boo and explains it thusly: There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the device to choke on the last day of a leap year. Rest assured, however — although they may not be releasing an update for the device any time soon, the issue should resolve itself whenever January 1, 2009 rolls around. So have a safe and happy New Year, and let’s hope they do something about this by 2012.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: ,

Zune 30GB brickification acknowledged, Microsoft says to wait it out originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

New Mac Mini at Macworld, Will Look Like iMac + Time Capsule

TUAW has the most complete description yet of the new Mac mini widely rumored/expected to launch at Macworld. It’ll be topped with iMac-esque black plastic instead of white, and have a lip like Time Capsule.

The lip conceals the Mac mini’s optical drive slot, which is useful now since TUAW says that the new drive will be SATA, meaning it can be swapped out for a second hard drive, probably as a custom build option. The second drive is boon to the business crowd that uses Mac minis in server farms (like this one), since it not only adds more storage, but makes RAID1 mirroring easy.

No other details on specs—we’re pretty interested in what processor these things will be packing—though it’s looking fairly certain (as certain as these things ever look, anyway) that they’ll have Nvidia’s GeForce 9400m chipset from the new MacBooks in tow.

We’ll know in about a week, along with whatever other surprises Macworld has in store. What would you like to see in the new Mac mini, besides a Blu-ray drive? (Cause that’s what everyone wants.) [TUAW]

Optoma’s DLP PK101 pico projector up for pre-order at $399.99

Coming soon,” huh? Soon, indeed. Optoma’s DLP-based pico projector, which is formally known as the EP-PK-101 (or PK101 in some circles), is now up for pre-order at Amazon. So, just how much will you pay for a 4-ounce beamer that you can carry in your left front pocket? If your answer is anything less than $399.99, you’re out of luck here.

[Via I4U News]

Filed under:

Optoma’s DLP PK101 pico projector up for pre-order at $399.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Official Fix for the Zune 30 Fail

Microsoft’s responded to the Zune 30GB failure, blaming a leap-year handling bug. And they’ve provided a fix. Which is to wait til New Years, when the bug will go away by itself. Huh.

Early this morning we were alerted by our customers that there was a widespread issue affecting our 2006 model Zune 30GB devices (a large number of which are still actively being used). The technical team jumped on the problem immediately and isolated the issue: a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year. That being the case, the issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009. We expect the internal clock on the Zune 30GB devices will automatically reset tomorrow (noon, GMT). By tomorrow you should allow the battery to fully run out of power before the unit can restart successfully then simply ensure that your device is recharged, then turn it back on. If you’re a Zune Pass subscriber, you may need to sync your device with your PC to refresh the rights to the subscription content you have downloaded to your device.

Customers can continue to stay informed via the support page on zune.net (zune.net/support).

We know this has been a big inconvenience to our customers and we are sorry for that, and want to thank them for their patience.

Q: Why is this issue isolated to the Zune 30 device?
It is a bug in a driver for a part that is only used in the Zune 30 device.

Q: What fixes or patches are you putting in place to resolve this situation?
This situation should remedy itself over the next 24 hours as the time flips to January 1st.

Q: What’s the timeline on a fix?
The issue Zune 30GB customers are experiencing today will self resolve as time changes to January 1.

Q: Why did this occur at precisely 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 2008?
There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the 30GB device to improperly handle the last day of a leap year.

Q: What is Zune doing to fix this issue?
The issue should resolve itself.

Q: Are you sure that this won’t happen to all 80, 120 or other flash devices?
This issue is related to a part that is only used in Zune 30 devices.

Q: How many 30GB Zune devices are affected? How many Zune 30GB devices were sold?
All 30GB devices are potentially affected.