Hasta La Gadget!

We already know plenty of people who’ve eschewed traditional turn-by-turn GPS systems in favor of plotting it out for free on Google Maps, and now there’s whispers that Mountain View is coming after the rest of the market with a free nav app. That’s at least what nav services providers are saying to Forbes, who think El Goog is gearing up to release a free ad-supported navigation app after making moves to use its own US maps instead licensing data from Tele Atlas and putting ads on the iPhone Maps app. Obviously that would shake things up a ton — and make Android devices a huge bargain — but we’ll see where this all leads over the next few months.

[Via Fierce Mobile Content; thanks Elad]

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Handhelds, Software

Google developing free navigation app? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, that was a short honeymoon — Intel’s now pulled its SSD Toolbox and associated TRIM firmware update amid reports that it was bricking drives under Windows 7. We haven’t heard more than anecdotal evidence about this, but we’d definitely pick having a functional drive over the promised 40 percent speed boost from the code, so you should probably hold off if you’ve downloaded but haven’t updated yet. We’re looking into things, we’ll let you know — but man, the X-25M just hasn’t had an easy life, has it?

Update: Intel just gave us its official statement on the matter:

Yes, we have been contacted by users with issues with the firmware upgrade for our 34nm SSDs and we are investigating. We take all sightings and issues seriously and are working toward resolution. We have temporarily taken down the firmware link while we investigate.

[Thanks, Joseph and Ty]

Read – Former SSD Toolbox download page
Read – Intel support forum page

Filed under: Storage

Intel pulls SSD Toolbox for killing drives under Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is nothing more than a huge rumor at this point, but gaming-industry site Superannuation is reporting that it has found a resume posted by a video game animator claiming to have worked on an unannounced GoldenEye 007 game for the Nintendo Wii.

Remember this level in GoldenEye 007?

(Credit:

…

Originally posted at The Digital Home

Mmm, flash. Fusion-io’s product line has largely targeted enterprise users, but with the introduction of the ioXtreme PCI Express SSD back at E3, it was clear that the next-gen storage outfit was serious about breaking into the consumer market. Today, the 80GB ioXtreme and ioXtreme Pro (which was previously unheard of) have both broke cover over at Hot Hardware, with the former being useful for single-drive installs and the latter good for multi-drive setups. We should note that Fusion-io is obviously behind schedule on these, and there still doesn’t look to be a definite price and release for the laypeople out there. That said, if the company’s shipping out products that punch out an average write rate of 300MB/sec and read rate of 775MB/sec (yes, seriously), we’d say it’s darn near ready for the real world.

Filed under: Storage

Fusion-io ioXtreme and ioXtreme Pro PCI Express SSDs sneak out originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This November marks the fifth year of Wired magazine’s annual pop-up store. The Wired Store offers many of the neat gadgets seen in the magazine, and, for the first time, it will feature a design collaboration with Moby (yes, that world-famous musician guy).

Located at 415 West 13th St. in New York City, the store will have more than 150 items on display, including TVs, laptops, cell phones, clothing, kids toys, and more. The Wired Store will also host regular events, like Geek Dad Saturdays, and Game Day Sundays, as well as wine tastings and chef demos in the WIRED Cafe.

There will also be a green
section curated by Adrian Grenier and Peter Glatzer of SHFT.COM, and a gaming section curated by non other than Tony Hawk.

The Wired Store will be open to the public from November 21, 2009 through
December 27, 2009. Visit the store’s Web site for more information.