Sep 21

Latest iPhone OS May Cause Battery Problems; Apple Investigates

Posted in: Apple, iPhone, Phones, Today's Chili

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Hundreds of iPhone customers are reporting shorter battery life after upgrading to the latest iPhone OS (3.1). Apple appears to have acknowledged the issue, as the company’s help desk is contacting some affected customers to diagnose the root of the problem.

In Apple’s support forums, nearly 500 posts complain about the iPhone’s shortened battery life after upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1. The AppleCare help desk is contacting some of these forum members with an 11-part questionnaire, according to The iPhone Blog.

The questionnaire includes queries about possible power suckers such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and push e-mail. Question 10, for example, reads, “When you notice a power drop, does it seem to be a legitimate power drop, or rather an issue with the battery icon indicator?”

The note also contains a file that installs an unsigned profile for battery-life logging on the iPhone. If users opt to install the profile, their battery-life logs can be synced with iTunes, and they can request that those logs be sent back to Apple for inspection, according to The iPhone Blog.

Are you an iPhone user? Let us know in the poll below whether you’ve been experiencing shorter battery life since upgrading to iPhone OS 3.1, or share your anecdotes and possible solutions in the comments below.

Meanwhile, I’ll share my own experience: I haven’t been actively monitoring battery life with iPhone OS 3.1 in particular, but I have noticed some quirks with the general 3.0 OS. At one point my battery life dropped from 100 percent to 20 percent in about 10 minutes. I looked into the problem and saw reports from several users that the problem was a corrupt iTunes backup of your iPhone.

The solution? Unfortunately it involved doing a clean wipe of the iPhone, setting it up as a new device and re-synchronizing my entire iTunes library. (You can do all of this by clicking the “Restore” button in iTunes, then selecting the option to set up your iPhone as a new device. After that, all you have to do is synchronize your iTunes library.) In the course of this process I lost my entire SMS history, my voicemails and library of photos snapped with the iPhone. That sucked, but a clean restore fixed the problem.


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Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com


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Sep 21

Nvidia’s PhysX makes PC Batman: Arkham Asylum worth the wait

Posted in: Today's Chili

Two weeks after the console launch, PC gamers finally got their version of Eidos Interactive’s Batman: Arkham Asylum last week. Originally slated to launch with the console versions, Batman was delayed three weeks for the PC, presumably to give both developer Rocksteady Studios and partner Nvidia time to polish the integration of Nvidia’s PhysX game physics acceleration technology.

After spending a weekend with the game, we can report that we were pleasantly surprised at how much the PhysX effects enhanced the atmosphere of the game’s gloomy setting. Our last outing with a PhysX-enabled AAA PC game, Mirror’s Edge back in January, was much clunkier.

In Batman, sheets of paper scattered on the floor move convincingly as characters walk over them. Bricks, glass, and tiles shatter and break apart realistically. Fog, smoke, and spider webs waft and curl around characters realistically (the slideshow at the bottom of this post shows off some Nvidia-provided screenshots). With PhysX off you get none of those effects, and a less interesting environment as a result. Compared to the tacked on PhysX-effects in Mirror’s Edge, the effects in Batman noticeably improve the game’s gloomy atmosphere.

The swirling paper in this scene isn’t possible without Nvidia’s PhysX effects.

(Credit: Rich Brown/CNET)

Not every effect in Batman is a winner. The banners draped over various rafters and arches throughout the game, presumably to show off realistic cloth behavior, seem more appropriate for an athletic facility than an asylum for criminals. The PhysX effects also provide no benefit to the in-game mechanics, but given that only a subset of PC gamers have PhysX-enabled PCs, we can’t blame the Batman development team for not using PhysX to full advantage.

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Sep 21

Square Enix President predicts Wii HD for 2011, doesn’t see big impact for PS3 and Xbox motion controls

Posted in: Today's Chili, wii, xbox 360, Xbox360

Image courtesy of GAME Watch

Sure, they sound like the words of a man who hasn’t begun development of any motion-controlled titles for the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, but we’re still intrigued by President of Square Enix Yoichi Wada’s statement (he’s the guy on the left) that the motion control additions to the PS3 and Xbox 360 aren’t that big of deal. He cites the other “pillars” of console use (like video playback) that somehow make motion controls a minor player — though we’d say the Wii’s sales numbers would beg to differ. Speaking of the Wii, Yoichi thinks all three major consoles will start to look rather the same by 2011, when believes the Wii followup will hit the market — in line with other rumors we’ve heard for the “Wii HD.” Three “HD” consoles with similar input options and similar graphics output certainly sounds like a boon for developers, we just hope there are enough similarities in the control systems and enough “impact” in PS3 and Xbox motion control sales to make mega triple-platform motion-controlled blockbusters feasible.

[Via Joystiq]

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Square Enix President predicts Wii HD for 2011, doesn’t see big impact for PS3 and Xbox motion controls originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 21

Microsoft to take on the Apple tablet?

Posted in: Today's Chili

With the hype around Apple’s near-certain upcoming tablet PC seemingly cooling off, our attention now turns to Microsoft–as the company is rumored to be preemptively working on its own Apple-tablet killer.

ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley reports that Microsoft plans to create a tablet, which is based in part on …

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Sep 21

Square Enix CEO: Nintendo Wii Successor Arriving in 2011

Posted in: nintendo, Today's Chili, video games, wii

Square Enix president and CEO Yoichi Wada spoke to this press this week, just ahead of the upcoming Tokyo game show, happily making all manner of predictions regarding the future of the industry. Most interesting was the executive’s speculations about Nintendo.

Wada told the Financial Times that he expects Nintendo to release a followup to the Wii by 2011. The new console will take a decidedly different approach to the Wii’s stripped-down simplicity, adding some of the multimedia functionality found in the Xbox 360 and PS3. The console may also feature a different controller than the popular Wiimote.

Nothing too bold in these predictions, sure, but there’s a certain validity to such claims, based on Square Enix’s long working relationship with Nintendo.

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Sep 21

Access and China Telecom in talks to launch CPhone custom Android platform

Posted in: Android, Today's Chili

Man, the Android action in China just keeps heating up: hot on the heels of China Mobile’s OPhone platform debut, we’re hearing China Telecom and Access are in talks to launch a rival called “CPhone.” Just like OPhone, CPhone looks to be a specialized build of Android 1.5 with a custom UI, but instead of OPhone’s KIRF iPhone look, Access seems to have filtered any number of haphazard Samsung UIs through a case or two of Tsingtao and called it a day. The big question right now is whether this one 3.5-inch device is the CPhone or whether Access and China Telecom are looking to launch a range of CPhone devices, but we’re sure to find out more soon.

[Via Cloned in China]

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Access and China Telecom in talks to launch CPhone custom Android platform originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 21

Stuffed animal USB hand warmers brand you as ‘Office Weirdo’

Posted in: Today's Chili
(Credit: Technabob)

If you feel like your co-workers just don’t ostracize you enough, these fuzzy bear and rabbit USB hand warmers are sure to do the trick. “Why does that guy have his hands jammed into a stuffed animal’s esophagus?” they’ll ask.

Though I’ve had the …

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Sep 21

3G MicroCells: Carriers Want You to Pay Extra to Fix Their Own Failures

Posted in: att, feature, iPhone, Today's Chili, top, Wireless

AT&T’s network is basically a huge failure. And if you want to fix their incompetence in your area, you’ll need to pay an additional $150 for a 3G MicroCell. I call bullshit.

Danny touched on this earlier, but the logic here is blowing my mind. How little regard for your customers do you have to have to offer a product that fixes your own product for an additional fee every month? Seriously, somebody explain to me how this is going to fly.

AT&T is currently testing the MicroCell in North Carolina, charging up to $20 a month to people who want to fix the dead spot in their apartment by running their phone through the internet. And they’re charging subscribers $150 for the box itself. It’s all a trial, so any of these prices could change, but as it stands it’s pretty ridiculous.

And AT&T is the last carrier to the femtocell party. Sprint charges $20 a month for its AiRave femtocell and Verizon charges $250 for its Network Extender box. T-Mobile charges $10 a month for its @Home service, which uses Wi-Fi instead of a cellular connection, but does the same thing. All of the carriers are ripping off their customers with these things, since all of the work is being put on your home internet connection, which you pay your broadband carrier for.

AT&T’s new test of their MicroCell seems as egregious as any of the carriers, so let’s use them as an example. Basically, AT&T didn’t have a strong enough network to handle the iPhone. It still doesn’t. Yet they still charge about $100 per month on average to iPhone customers, who have to deal with dropped calls, delayed voicemails and unreliable 3G speeds. If you are in a particularly bad spot, the 3G MicroCell will let you run your calls through your internet connection rather than over their shit network.

Where do they get off charging for this? Femtocells will actually reduce the load on their networks. It shifts the traffic over to the internet provider you’re already paying for (which I’m sure ISPs will just love). How does this earn AT&T $20 per month, no matter how much you talk?

The way the iPhone performs on AT&T’s network—or really, any dead spot for any carrier—they should be giving these out to people for free. In NYC and San Francisco, the service is near-unusable a good percentage of the time. AT&T is always talking about how they’re increasing coverage, but it never seems to get better. In fact, the week after they claimed to have completed upgrades in New York, my experiences with their coverage got noticeably worse.

Imagine this was the case with any of your other monthly bills. Oh, sorry about the brownouts! The power company has had some troubles at the plant. I know it was inconvenient, but they’ll fix it for you with a solar panel for an additional fee per month. As for your gym membership, sorry that it was closed four days a week last month! For an extra fee every month you can get a Bowflex so you can still work out whenever that happens.

It’s ludicrous. If their network was solid, these MicroCells wouldn’t even need to exist. AT&T is cutting off your arm and then trying to sell you some bandages. Hey, AT&T: people are already paying you for cell service. You can’t charge them again for the same service. Fix your fucking network.

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Sep 21

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 lovingly unboxed on video

Posted in: smartphone, Sony Ericsson, SonyEricsson, Today's Chili, unboxing, video, Windows Mobile, windows mobile 6.5, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5, winmo, xperia

We’ll confess – Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X2 is going to have quite the time attracting attention now that the Android-equipped X3 is all but confirmed, but those who aren’t yet ready to ditch Windows Mobile may be interested in seeing the first video unboxing of the Q4-bound smartphone. Unfortunately, the actual box that it’s emerging from is one of those ultra-plain units given to employees and the like when carrier testing is in full swing, but hey — a box is a box. Have a peek in the read link below, but be sure to bring a cup of patience. You’ll see.

[Via Slashgear]

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 lovingly unboxed on video originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 21

JingJing and PuiPui bots followup on the BHR tai chi bots, give a good interview

Posted in: robot, Robots, Today's Chili
The fine folks at the Beijing Institute of Technology just unveiled a pair of new bots, dubbed JingJing and PuiPui. Back in 2003 BIT was showing off its BHR-1 and BHR-2 bots, life-sized humanoids that can do tai chi, and these new bots keep their predecessor’s martial arts capabilities but add in some conversational skills. During what sounds to have been a charming unveiling, the bots answered questions from the audience, self-identifying themselves as humanoid robots to an enraptured crowd. Their creator claims we’re entering a personal computer revolution-style era with robots, and while we’ve heard that claim before, boy do we want to believe it! Check out a video of the original BHR series performing their moves to an epic soundtrack after the break.

[Via Plastic Pals]

Continue reading JingJing and PuiPui bots followup on the BHR tai chi bots, give a good interview

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JingJing and PuiPui bots followup on the BHR tai chi bots, give a good interview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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