Aug 27

Gadget Lab Podcast: iPods, Tablets and Wireless Remedies

Posted in: Apple, ipod touch, jailbreak, podcasts, Today's Chili, videos

The Gadget Lab crew kicks off this week’s podcast with a look at Dylan Tweney’s ugly new kicks, a pair of surf shoes made of recycled soda bottles. They cost $70. Seriously.

          

Moving on from cheesy hippy apparel, Brian X. Chen shares the news of an upcoming Apple press conference, where we can expect new iPods, a major iTunes upgrade (streaming!) and maybe a do-over of the Apple TV.

Apple’s competitors haven’t been so quiet, either. A “leaked” video emerged this week demonstrating Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch, Android-powered touchscreen tablet that looks to be a worthy rival to Apple’s iPad.

Speaking of the iPad — Tweney shares a hack for his iPad to gain 3G service at no additional cost with the help of his iPhone. If you jailbreak your iPhone at the site JailbreakMe.com, you can download an app called MyWi to turn the iPhone into a wireless hot spot. Select the hot spot on your iPad et voila — 3G-surfing privileges on the tablet without any monthly bills. That’s sweet.

Still, it’s too bad 3G coverage in general is spotty at best (especially here in San Francisco). Dissatisfied customers are in luck: We’ve heard Sprint may give you a free femtocell to boost your service if it’s proving unreliable. Also, an unhappy AT&T customer on Wired.com staff complained loudly enough to score a free femtocell to fix the crappy reception on his iPhone. Who said whining doesn’t pay off?

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our smiling faces, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds

Or listen to the audio here:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #86

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0086.mp3


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Aug 27

Firefox Mobile comes to Android in ‘Fennec’

Posted in: Today's Chili

Firefox-maker Mozilla brings Firefox Mobile one step closer to an Android release with an alpha build that bakes in a helpful and unique feature. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://www.cnet.com/8301-19736_1-20014919-251.html” class=”origPostedBlog”Android Atlas/a/p

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Aug 27

A World Without Blockbuster Is a World Filled With Sadness [Blockbuster]

Posted in: Movies, Today's Chili, top

Blockbuster’s likely bankruptcy filing will mean lots of their stores will close. That’s sad! The loss of Blockbuster stores is a loss for everybody. More »

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Aug 27

Unofficial iPhone gamepad coming soon

Posted in: Today's Chili

iControlPad allows you to fit a jailbroken iPhone in between two side clips that hold a gamepad below the phone in landscape mode, like you would a Nintendo DS.

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Aug 27

Court reaffirms: fourth amendment rights not violated if the police install a GPS device on your car when it’s not in your garage

Posted in: search, Today's Chili

Back in January, a court in Portland, Oregon ruled that the Fourth Amendment rights of one Juan Pineda-Moreno had not been violated by the police when they tracked him using various GPS devices they installed on the underside of his Jeep with magnets. You see, the police suspected that Pineda-Moreno was growing Marijuana somewhere, and they really didn’t like that. Eventually, Pineda-Moreno was arrested and convicted of crimes involving the growth of said Marijuana — but he appealed the decision because he thought that his Fourth Amendment rights (the one which guards against unreasonable search and seizure) had been violated. The appeals court has recently upheld the original decision, but there were five dissenting votes, meaning that the case is anything but cut and dried. Now, what’s obvious is that the police didn’t have to traverse into “private” space to attach the tracking device to the suspect’s car, but clearly it’s debatable — even as far as the judges are concerned — what constitutes private and public space. The case is surely not going to end here, so we’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, watch your back.

Court reaffirms: fourth amendment rights not violated if the police install a GPS device on your car when it’s not in your garage originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 27

Car Reivew: Lexus HS 250h Like an Upmarket Prius

Posted in: Today's Chili

Lexus_HS_250h_030_hero.jpg

Lexus execs freak out when they hear the Lexus HS 250h hybrid sedan described as a Lexus Prius. Yet that’s what it is. Not a carbon copy but still a four-to-five passenger hybrid sedan, with more room and amenities, mileage in the mid-thirties, lots of technology offerings including the Remote Touch controller, and prices of $35,000 $45,000. It’s the perfect car for all the entry hybrid buyers who tell market researchers they’d move upmarket if such a car existed. Now it does.

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Aug 27

Engadget Podcast 210 – 08.27.2010

Posted in: engadget podcast, EngadgetPodcast, podcast, Today's Chili

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of Nilay Patel’s heavy breathing and ice clinking, but not there. Enjoy it, this week only.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Dancing Queen

00:02:29 – Samsung Galaxy Tab gets official teaser video
00:13:28 – Exclusive: Dell Thunder prototype preview (video)
00:13:50 – Exclusive: Samsung Cetus i917 bows for AT&T, shows off its Windows Phone 7 ways
00:13:58 – Exclusive: T-Mobile G2 in the wild!
00:14:05 – T-Mobile G2 again, this time with less Mr. Blurrycam
00:14:17 – Exclusive: LG C900 for AT&T has Windows Phone 7, shows off a little carrier branding
00:14:20 – Exclusive: HTC’s Windows Phone 7-equipped T8788 breaks cover for AT&T
00:14:30 – Exclusive: Motorola MB520 Kobe / Diablo for AT&T in the wild
00:26:15 – Sony Alpha A55 and A33 hands-on
00:31:42 – Canon EOS 60D: 18 megapixels and 1080p video flexes its articulating screen this September
00:36:43 – Apple to hold ‘special event’ September 1st… we’ll be there live!
01:05:07 – The Engadget Show returns tomorrow, with Samsung CSO Omar Khan, Rock Band 3, crazy giveaways, and much more!

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Engadget Podcast 210 – 08.27.2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 27

Why Wristwatches Are Still Worth Watching

Posted in: accessories, Apparel, Today's Chili

The kids may be ditching wristwatches for time-telling smartphones, but manufacturers and designers still have some tricks just-barely-up-their-long-sleeves. The trick seems to be making watches more like smartphones by packing in extra functions or forgoing utility altogether for pure aesthetics or prestige.

Now, I can’t really read the spiral watch in the video above, but I appreciate the beauty and concept of the thing. The designer, Denis Guidone, says “I don’t like to design watches, what I really like is to design time.” This really puts us on another plane. If Marcel Duchamp were alive today, I’m sure he’d be making timepieces. (Dali, definitely.)

The “architecture you can wear” web magazine/design store Yanko Design has been highlighting clever takes on the wristwatch like this all summer, including design firm o.d.m.’s digital watch that puts the screen on the sides and the buttons in the middle, and a really gorgeous and surprisingly affordable piece by Daniel Will-Harris that lights up the numbers showing hours and minutes in color:

Image from Yanko Design


Let’s suppose, though, that you want your watch to DO stuff. Computerworld reports on watch manufacturers who are stoked about using the new Bluetooth spec, which makes it easier to hold connections on low-power devices, to pair your wristwatch with a computer the same way you would a mouse, keyboard or phone:

That means a watch or other device with a standard coin-cell or “button” battery that is worn on a wrist, kept in a pocket or worn on a necklace could communicate with a person’s smartphone or laptop. Using the wireless connection, the watch could display data received from the larger device, Bluetooth Special Interest Group Executive Director Michael Foley said Wednesday…

“The specification opens up new categories of Bluetooth devices,” he said. “You could replicate your phone on your watch for caller ID information or [to activate] a music player.”

These watches are probably still over a year away, though, as nobody’s made an announcement just yet. The ones with virus-templated nanobatteries that last forever are a long ways off.

Rolex

Image from Rolex

Finally, there’s the classic non-timekeeping function of a wristwatch — showing neither utility nor idiosyncratic taste but socially recognized status and power. Luckily for high-end watchmakers, the psychosocial cachet of their products doesn’t seem to be trailing off.

In “Why Do We Care About Luxury Brands?” Jonah Lehrer writes about what our continued desire for genuine Rolex watches, Hermes Bags and real (not sure ’nuff) iPhones has in common with our childhood objects of affection:

Although we outgrow stuffed animals, we never get beyond the irrational logic of authenticity and essentialism. There are certain things whose value depends largely on their legitimacy. While I might listen to bootleg music on my iPhone, I want the phone to be genuine. I want that Apple logo to be real. Why? Because the brand has effectively woven itself into my emotional brain. Because when I see that logo, I don’t see a functional object. Instead, I’ve learned to respond to everything that isn’t functional, all those subtle connotations conveyed in the glossy ads. There are many blankets in the world. But there is only one blankie. The best brands are blankies.

Sometimes it’s nice to look at your watch, not even to check the time, but just to remind yourself that it’s there.

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Aug 27

Amazon Kindle review (2010)

Posted in: amazon, Books, e ink, e reader, e-book, e-books, e-readers, feature, Features, kindle, reader, review, Reviews, Today's Chili

Amazon’s third major iteration of its flagship reading device, the Kindle, comes out of the gate looking strong: the new graphite finish (just like its big brother, the Kindle DX) with a slimmer, lighter form factor, plus a bumped refresh rate for its E Ink screen. Best of all, the WiFi only and 3G readers have newly lowered prices (though they’re still not exactly bargain basement level). We’ve spent the past few days putting the tinier Kindle through the paces to see just how much Amazon’s improved it. Though the market is increasingly flooded with cheap readers, the Kindle is arguably still the leading name in the field, and Amazon is already touting the third model as its bestselling ever — even though there are still no sales figures to be had. So, is this the best Kindle ever? Read on to find out.

Gallery: Amazon Kindle unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading Amazon Kindle review (2010)

Amazon Kindle review (2010) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aug 27

Leaked HTC Win Phone 7 handset has sliding speaker

Posted in: Today's Chili

HTC may be capable of making heroic smartphones, but it certainly can’t contain leaks of its unannounced devices.

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