Wouldn’t it be great if you could set up a simple keyword to initiate a site-specific search that you need to perform regularly? It turns out you can, including for search engines such as Google and Bing. Watch this How To and find out how. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10461625-12.html” class=”origPostedBlog”The Download Blog/a/p
A photographer at the Olympics in Vancouver used a dual-SLR camera rig to take 3D images. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20000106-264.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Deep Tech/a/p
Garmin has released a new, more compact version of its dashboard friction mount for Nuvi portable navigation devices. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10461594-48.html” class=”origPostedBlog”The Car Tech blog/a/p
We’ve just taken delivery of an AT&T-branded Motorola Backflip — the carrier’s very first Android device — and we wanted to share with you our magical first moments putting the phone through its paces. Here’s a quick rundown of our first impressions:
It spontaneously rebooted for us once in about an hour of use — a concerning sign, particularly considering Motorola’s inability to pump out a solid firmware for the CLIQ — but we’ll need a little more time with it. Want more right now? Follow the break for some more impressions, video, and a sample shot from the camera.
Continue reading Motorola Backflip for AT&T unboxing and hands-on
Motorola Backflip for AT&T unboxing and hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Engadget is live from CeBIT 2010! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A faster processor from chip maker Freescale could help cut down the cost of components for e-readers, paving the way to a $150 device later this year.
Freescale’s latest system-on-chip, called the i.MX508, integrates an ARM Cortex A8 processor with a display controller from E Ink. It will have twice the performance at a significantly lower cost, Freescale claims.
“This is the first chip that has been designed just for e-readers,” says Glen Burchers, director of marketing at Freescale. “Earlier, we had general-purpose processors being used in e-readers so they were not completely optimized.”
From the Kindle to the Sony Reader, Freescale’s chips power most e-readers today. The chipmaker claims to have nearly 90 percent of the market share among the burgeoning e-reader market. Research firm Forrester estimates 3 million e-readers were sold last year and sales are expected to double this year.
But the high cost of e-readers has kept many consumers from rushing to stores to get the device. An Amazon Kindle costs $260, which is what most such readers cost. The cheapest e-reader currently on the market, from Sony, is still $200. And that doesn’t include the price of buying e-books. Another limiting factor has been kludgy user interfaces and displays that are slow to turn from one page to the next, which has turned off some potential users.
Freescale’s latest chip has an ARM core running at 800MHz and can render electronic ink pages at almost twice the speed of earlier e-reader processors, the company says. This results in faster page turns and a more snappy feel to the device.
“Today page flips on a Kindle are in the range of 1.5 to 2 seconds, while the Nook (which uses a processor from Samsung) it can take up to 3 seconds for a page turn,” Burchers says. “With our new processors, that can be cut down to about half a second.”
In Wired’s testing, page turns on the current-model Kindle took about half a second while the Nook took about one second.
The increased processing capability also gives e-reader makers greater computing power so they can add better touch capability and run more apps on the device, says Freescale.
For consumers, all this could come with some cost savings. Freescale’s chip could reduce the overall cost of materials because the chip itself will cost about $10 when ordered in large volumes (greater than 250,000 units). Overall, this could reduce the price of an e-reader by at least $30-$50. The most expensive component in an e-reader, however, remains the E Ink black-and-white display.
E-readers based on the new Freescale processor are expected to be available in the third quarter of the year.
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Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Even the newest and fastest Windows phones won’t be upgradable to Microsoft’s next-generation mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7 Series, when it lands later this year.
Natasha Kwan, general manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business in the Asia-Pacific region, told APC Mag that current phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 OS will receive incremental upgrades, but they can’t be upgraded to Windows Phone 7 Series because they don’t meet the hardware criteria that Microsoft has mandated for phones running the new OS.
That will inevitably lead to some buyers’ remorse for current Windows Mobile users, such as those who just bought the brand new HTC HD2. The HD2 meets most of the hardware criteria that Microsoft is mandating for Windows 7 Series phones: It includes a 1-GHz Qualcomm processor, a high-res capacitive touch display, a 5-megapixel camera and a 3.5-mm headphone jack. However, the phone is being ruled out because it has five buttons rather than the three buttons mandated for all Windows Phone 7 Series devices.
Microsoft last month introduced Windows Phone 7 Series at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. To address the issue of fragmentation — a complex hardware ecosystem that requires developers to code several versions of one app to sell on one platform for different types of phones — Microsoft is working more closely with manufacturing partners in the design process of their hardware. Microsoft has been vague about exactly what the required specifications would be for Windows 7 Series phones.
Later, Microsoft Australia developer evangelist said in a podcast that Microsoft has drawn up three “chassis” for standard specifications that three different types of Windows Phone 7 Series will have to meet. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley explained that Chassi 1 will be for “big touchscreen phones,” Chassi 2 will be for handsets with sliding keyboards and Chassis 3 will be for candybar-style phones.
Long story short, the bad news is current Windows Mobile users won’t be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 7 Series. The good news is it appears Windows phone developers will be able to code apps for three different types of phones — as opposed to making apps for all sorts of different handsets from various manufacturers, like they had to do with Windows Mobile 6.5. Ideally, the new implementation of three standard chassis should spell out to easier development, and thus more Windows Phone 7 Series apps for users.
Microsoft will be disclosing full details on development tools for Windows Phone 7 Series at its MIX developer conference this month.
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Image courtesy of Microsoft
Running on a treadmill is inherently boring. But what if you could switch things up and simulate actual, real-world topography?
Apple rumored to be readying Mac mini with HDMI originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Truly our craziest show yet. In case you didn’t tune into the livestream of The Engadget Show on Saturday (and if you somehow didn’t hear about the news), then you’re in for a real treat. The crew gets especially wild on this episode while talking Hulu and plans for world domination with Boxee’s Avner Ronen, revealing the first partner handset for Windows Phone 7 Series with Microsoft’s Aaron Woodman, and playing around with the Dell Mini 5, as well as the forthcoming Engadget app for Android. Oh, and there’s also a fascinating short piece on chiptune music and visuals and the folks who make the magic happen. If you do one thing today, make it The Engadget Show. You won’t be sorry. The full video is available to stream after the break, or you can download it below.
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel
Special guests: Avner Ronen and Aaron Woodman
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger
Edited by: Michael Slavens
Music by: Nullsleep
Visuals by: Paris and Outpt
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec
Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 006 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 006 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted)
Subscribe to the Show:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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The Engadget Show – 006: Avner Ronen, the first Windows Phone 7 Series device, Dell Mini 5, and more! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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