Hasta La Gadget!

It only took 126 career hops — the first one being a soulless teen model — for Barbie to land a job as a computer software engineer. All we know now is that she has a dual monitor setup and a picture of Ken at her cubicle. Oh, and she uses Linux on the world’s smallest netbook.

Barbie slides into the cubicle, becomes a computer software engineer originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who woulda thunk it? Giving WiFi to fidgety students on a bus actually makes them more productive. Nearly three years after an Arkansas school launched a trial that delivered laptops, iPods and wireless internet to a bus, an Arizona school district is discovering the merits of such a system — though with this one, there stands a good chance for it to go well beyond the “pilot” phase. Students in Vail, Arizona have been able to handle school assignments, engage in research and even update their Facebook status on the lengthy rides to and from school, and the suits responsible for hooking Bus No. 92 up have stated that mischief has all but subsided and the bus has magically morphed into something of a “rolling study hall.” As you’d expect, Autonet Mobile is responsible for the technology (the same company equipping select GM vehicles with in-car WiFi), and it has already sold similar tech to schools or districts in Florida, Missouri and Washington, DC. We always dreamed of being whisked off to another lousy school day on the GamerBUS, but this ain’t a half bad alternative.

[Thanks, Nate]

Arizona school bus gains WiFi, students suddenly chill out and get productive originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3 3D video output turns up in 3.20 debug firmware originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, it’s pretty clear that Windows Mobile 7 will be revealed by Microsoft at Mobile World Congress. We’ve been feeding on a veritable feast of WinMo7 rumors for several months now all pointing to Steve Ballmer’s keynote scheduled for 3PM Barcelona time (9AM in New York). Now Adobe has issued a statement apparently confirming what we’ve already heard: Windows Mobile 7 will not support Flash. Unfortunately, the actual quote carried by Phone Scoop doesn’t mention Windows Phone 7:

“Microsoft and Adobe are working closely together. While the newest version of Windows Phone won’t support Flash at initial availability, both companies are working to include a browser plug-in for the full Flash player in future versions of Windows Phone. More details will be shared at Microsoft MIX next month.”

Of course, the “newest version of Windows Phone” is technically 6.5.3 — a WinMo update recently announced (but hasn’t shipped) and presumably still works with Flash 10.1 beta (but isn’t guaranteed). And since we can’t find the Adobe statement on any of its usual press channels, we can’t say for sure this quote is related to Windows Mobile 7. Still, we don’t doubt the accuracy of Phone Scoop so don’t get your hopes up for Flash in the initial builds of Windows Mobile 7 Windows Phone 7 Series devices.

Update: Sorry kids, we have independent confirmation: Windows Phone 7 will not support Flash at initial launch.

Adobe confirms no Flash in Windows Mobile 7 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In case you haven’t noticed, Mobile World Congress is upon us, and you can bet that Samsung is here in a big way. The outfit is kicking things off with a couple of low-key releases: the S5K4E2 and S5K5CA CMOS image sensors. The former is a 5 megapixel chip that utilizes Samsung’s own Enhanced Energy Steering technology and can capture video at up to 15 frames per second. We’re told that it’s also pretty darn good at reducing noise, and better still, it can slip into some of the slimmest and smallest handsets this world has ever seen. Moving on, there’s the S5K5CA SoC imager, a 3 megapixel chip that combines both the image signal processor (ISP) with the CMOS image sensor. As the story goes, this one’s some 25 percent smaller than prior 3 megapixel chips and the 720p video capture capabilities aren’t too shabby, either. Both slabs are expected to hit mass production later this year, so go ahead and get ready to break the bad news to your existing cameraphone now. It’s better this way, we promise.

New Samsung chips bring HD image sensors to slimmer, smarter mobiles originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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