Hasta La Gadget!

After a few years of teasing and smoke blowing, the HomePlug Powerline Alliance has finally released the skinny on major enhancements we can expect to see integrated into the HomePlug AV2 powerline networking specification that’s scheduled for finalization in Q1 of 2011. Chief among them is MIMO (Multiple-Inputs Multiple-Outputs), which will expand home coverage by increasing the throughput speeds, and transmission ranges, without additional signal power or requiring more spectrum — but you knew already that didn’t you, MacGyver? Compounding this efficiency gain will be the expansion of the operating spectrum by an order of magnitude. Tallied together with other upgrades, the end result for consumers will be a “reported” 5x increase in performance, not to mention support for bigger, more reliable networks. Oh, and it’ll also play nicely with original HomePlug AV technology, too. Frankly, that’s jolly good news for our dreams of pushing 1080p HD video streams to every room in our house with an outlet — including the pantry. Doing the same thing for 3D and 4K HD content… well, that’s just brilliant! For more details peep the PR below the break.

Continue reading HomePlug Powerline Alliance reveals features of new HomePlug AV2 spec

HomePlug Powerline Alliance reveals features of new HomePlug AV2 spec originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The summer has been dominated by Android and Apple news, but RIM’s not about to let them have all the fun. The BlackBerry maker is set to make an announcement at an event in New York next Tuesday that might have a little something to do with all those …

Originally posted at Dialed In

Some Windows CE-based ATMs especially generous (and vulnerable to hackers) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the few highlights of the refreshed 27-inch iMac is the new SSD option for its second drive bay. This sure is good news for performance addicts carrying some spare cash, but with the 256GB SSD addition costing from $750, some may prefer the DIY route to save a few pennies for that gold iPad. Sadly, it won’t be as straight forward as sliding in a new drive — e-tailer OWC noticed in its teardown that you’ll be needing a mounting bracket and a couple of cables that are only supplied with Apple’s own SSD. That said, if you can find a way to secure the drive in the bay, all you’ll need are a SATA male-to-two-female splitter plus a left-angled SATA connector cable, and then a way to partially remove the logic board to access the free port. Yup, it’s as easy as really complicated pie.

iMac’s latest 27-inch iteration requires special parts for your own SSD in second drive bay originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve got a hankering for some battery-sipping Core i3 ULV processors and live south of a certain 38th parallel line, you’ll probably want to take a close look at one of Samsung’s new designs. We hear on good authority that Sammy’s refreshed its X Series laptops with the 1.2GHz Core i3-330M processor, including the 11.6-inch X180 (with the same 3GB of DDR3 memory, 320GB hard drive and most everything else included in the X170 that came before) and the 14-inch X430, which leapfrogs its predecessor the X420 with dedicated GeForce 310M graphics. Both actually report less battery life than their forbears, as the new laptops are rated closer to eight than nine hours, but in the X430 it’s a small sum to pay to avoid integrated Intel video.

We’re also hearing word of a AMD-powered 11.6-incher called the Samsung X125, which should be hitting Europe any minute now for €499 (roughly $647). It’s got a 1.7GHz Athlon II Neo K125 chip, 3GB memory, ATI Radeon 4225 graphics, and a manufacturer-reported five hours of battery life, all of which honestly sounds pretty unimpressive for the price. We know you can do better, Samsung. We believe.

Samsung refreshes X Series laptop lineup with Core i3 ULV chips originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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