Mar 12

I-Slate’s probabilistic chip-powered tablet PC for the OLPC set

Posted in: Today's Chili

Researchers have developed a solar-powered, WiFi, stylus-controlled tablet PC called I-Slate, which makes use of the probabilistic CMOS technology designed by Dr. Krishna Palem and his team at Rice University. Introduced to the world this week at the IEEE’s 125th Anniversary event, the machine is designed to replace the old chalk slates apparently still used in some parts of the world (and on re-runs of Little House On The Prairie) with something that can download lesson plans and help children with their math, among other things. But this is just the beginning — Dr. Palem and the gang are looking forward to the day when the chips find a home in all sorts of gadgets, from cellphones to televisions and beyond. Prototype slates should start making the rounds in India this spring.

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I-Slate’s probabilistic chip-powered tablet PC for the OLPC set originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

New iPod shuffle first hands-on (with video!)

Posted in: Apple, Features, hands-on, ipod, Today's Chili

We just nabbed one of Apple’s new button-free iPod shuffles, and in case you were wondering: yes, it’s really small. We’re gonna play around a bit with the VoiceOver navigation and get you our full impressions in a few, but at first glance we think this is totally usable, especially for the shuffle’s sweaty target demographic. Also: it’s really small.

Update: In-depth impressions are after the break, along with video!

Gallery: New iPod shuffle first hands-on

Gallery: New iPod shuffle unboxing and close-ups

Continue reading New iPod shuffle first hands-on (with video!)

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New iPod shuffle first hands-on (with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

Cheap Geek: Blu-ray Disc Sale, HD Radio, Samsung Digital Camera

Posted in: Today's Chili

teac.jpg

It’s a beautiful day for some thrifty shopping. Check out Gearlog’s deals for Thursday, March 12:

1. Blu-ray and HD are all the rage: Save now on over 300 movie titles at Amazon.com. The Blu-ray discs start as low as $9.99 with such titles as “Total Recall,” and there are about 100 more priced under $15. Find “Reservoir Dogs,” “The Shining,” or “The Untouchables,” as well as new titles like “Wall-E,” or “Tropic Thunder.” The sale ends on March 22, so check it out now.

2. TEAC just released its first HD radio/iPod dock. The HD-1 tabletop radio has iTunes Tagging capabilities, which allows you to tag a song you hear on a FM HD radio station, and then upload the information to your iPod. It has a list price of $129, but is selling for $99 at Costco for a limited time.

3. Sellout.woot is offering the Samsung L100 8.2MP Digital Camera (refurbished) for just $69.99 today. It has a list price of $179.95, and granted the $70 price is for a refurbished model, but you’re still saving quite a bit of money. The camera has 3x optical zoom, digital image stabilization, and face detection technology.

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Mar 12

Samsung sneaks Q2 PMP onto the scene with 50 hours of battery life

Posted in: PMP, samsung, Today's Chili

Looking for a PMP that can hang with you for every last minute of the long weekend, eh? Just in case MSI’s MS-5552 is a bit too aged for your tastes, Samsung has quietly introduced a newcomer (the Q2, but not that Q2) which promises 50 solid hours of audio playback on a single charge. Specs wise, we’re looking at a 2.4-inch QVGA display, built-in microphone, FM radio module, 8GB / 16GB of flash storage and little else. As for file support, this little bugger will play nice with MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, WMV and MPEG-4, though the lack of WiFi and Bluetooth keeps us from really, truly falling in love. There’s no word on a price just yet, but we get the feeling we’ll have to snoop around in due time for that as well.

[Via Pocketables]

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Samsung sneaks Q2 PMP onto the scene with 50 hours of battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

Resident Evil 5 to get online gameplay with Versus

Posted in: Today's Chili

(Credit: Capcom)

What could be better news for a gamer than knowing there will be downloadable content for a game before its release? Capcom just announced Versus mode for Resident Evil 5. So, when you get tired of playing with them, play Versus, and take ’em out. Resident Evil 5 …

Originally posted at Digital City Podcast

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Mar 12

iPhone OS 3.0 is coming, preview on March 17th

Posted in: Apple, breaking news, BreakingNews, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, Today's Chili

We just got the announcement, iPhone OS 3.0 is coming. Set your clocks, mark your calendars. It’s going down March 17th. Apparently, we’ll get a sneak peak at the new OS, as well as a look at a brand new version of the SDK. Exciting stuff indeed, and we’ll be there live at 10am PST (1pm EST) with the liveblog. Apple’s calling this an “advance preview of what we’re building,” so we’re not expecting anything ready to go as of the 17th, but hopefully this will allow developers to start building toward future functionality (hey, how about some push notifications?), and presumably users won’t have too many months to wait after that for the real deal.

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iPhone OS 3.0 is coming, preview on March 17th originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Pentax Optio W60 waterproof camera!

Posted in: recession, Today's Chili

This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn’t want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back — so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We’ll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we’ve got a Pentax Optio W60 waterproof camera on offer. Read the rules below (no skimming — we’re omniscient and can tell when you’ve skimmed) and get commenting! Check after the break for some photos of the prize!

Special thanks to Pentax for providing the gear!

The rules:

  • Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for “fixing” the world economy, that’d be sweet too.
  • You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you’ll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
  • If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you’ll be fine.
  • Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
  • Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive one Pentax W60. Approximate value is $329.
  • If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
  • Entries can be submitted until Thursday, March 12th, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
  • Full rules can be found here.

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Engadget’s recession antidote: win a Pentax Optio W60 waterproof camera! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

Stop complaining about the new iPod Shuffle

Posted in: Today's Chili
iPod Shuffle

Now, that's value!

Apple quietly released a new iPod Shuffle on Wednesday, and much to the surprise of tech pundits and Apple fans, the company moved the controls of the device from the face of the Shuffle to the cord of the earbuds it bundles with the iPod.

According to Apple, anyone who wants to use their own third-party headphones will be required to purchase a third-party Shuffle-controlling dongle that will attach to both the iPod and the headphones.

It didn’t take long for the blogosphere to erupt and start saying that this is like the recessed iPhone jack of 2009, in reference to the first-generation iPhone earbud jack that required an adapter for some headphones. When that was announced, Apple caught fire until the second-generation iPhone featured a standard jack.

And now it’s happening again. I spent 30 minutes last night looking around the Web, trying to find reactions to this so-called “debacle,” and more often than not, I read posts on blogs or complaints on Twitter saying that an additional $15 to $20 for a dongle is ridiculous and that it eliminates all the value of the iPod Shuffle.

I considered that argument and found it flawed.

…

Originally posted at The Digital Home

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Mar 12

LG’s Rumor 2 escapes rumor phase, goes live on Sprint

Posted in: launch, LG, official, Sprint, Today's Chili

Tough luck, guys — the secret‘s out. LG’s long rumored Rumor 2 has finally launched exclusively on Sprint, bringing with it a slide-out QWERTY keypad, QVGA display, 1.3 megapixel camera, a removable backplate and your choice of Black Titanium and Vibrant Blue shells. As for availability, you can find the Black Titanium at Sprint’s website on March 15th, while the Vibrant Blue edition won’t hit until March 29th. If you’re web-averse, you’ll have to wait until April 19th for it to filter out to all Sprint retail channels before dropping your $49.99 (on contract).

[Via phoneArena]

Gallery: LG’s Rumor 2 escapes rumor phase, goes live on Sprint

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LG’s Rumor 2 escapes rumor phase, goes live on Sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mar 12

iPhone OS 3.0 to Be Revealed March 17

Posted in: Apple, Today's Chili, top

iPhone OS 3.0 is going to be revealed on March 17 in an Apple event. I wonder if the new OS will be ready for the rumored 10-inch touchscreen iPhoneish tablet:

Join us at an invitation-only event to learn about the new SDK and get a sneak peek at the iPhone OS 3.0 software. The event takes place at Apple, Building 4, Town Hall on March 17 at 10:00 a.m.

We will be there and tell you all about it, like always.

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