Hasta La Gadget!

Vudu’s video-on-demand streaming service will soon be available through PC Web browsers.

Over the last few months, Chinese site cnBeta’s been busy dishing out alleged screenshots of Windows 8 at its infancy, though few have caught our attention until this new batch came along. Assuming this isn’t the work of some cruel joke, it appears that Microsoft’s next flagship OS will be shipped with its very own built-in app store, which is simply dubbed Windows App Store at this stage (and now we see why Redmond keeps fighting the good fight over the “App Store” trademark). As with previous Windows milestone builds, the final appearance may differ slightly, but word has it that this new store’s passed its internal tests and will soon go beta. While it’s too early to tell, here’s hoping that this feature will open the floodgate to a whole bunch of cheaper Windows software.

[Thanks, Stephen]

Update: Turns out the above screenshot had already appeared on waybeta last month, and the actual news here is that now we seem to have a Chinese version of the app store, possibly by way of a language pack.

Windows 8 app store revealed in leaked screenshots, ready for beta testing? (Updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fed up with the simply unacceptable performance of your external Blu-ray writer? Of course you are. ASUS feels your pain, and it’s looking to ease it with the soothing balm of the BW-12D1S-U, a new 12X, USB 3.0 burner. The highly capable (and highly complex, we’re surmising) BW-12D1S-U offers realtime 2D to 3D conversion, 1080p video output and support for the usual complement of HD audio formats. But does it have a jewel-like, almost ominous translucent blue power button, you ask? Indeed it does, not to mention a sleek black finish and the ability to operate horizontally or vertically. The outfit has yet to put a price on having the fastest writer on the block, but don’t even pretend that you wouldn’t pay it. Whatever “it” ends up being.

ASUS’ 12x BW-12D1S-U external Blu-ray writer: world’s fastest, until the next one originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been exactly 50 years to the day — in some places, anyway — that cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s maiden voyage set off an international space race that defined an era, and while only Gagarin knew exactly what it was like to be the first man in space, documentarian Christopher Riley is giving us a glimpse of what the world might have looked like from the porthole of Vostok 1. As we reported before, First Orbit is a mashup of sorts that features original audio recordings from Gagarin’s flight, coupled with footage taken by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli from aboard the International Space Station. The result is nothing short of stunning, but you don’t have to take our word for it — in fact, go ahead and grab yourself some popcorn, hit the play button, and prepare to be amazed.

First Orbit offers a glimpse at Yuri Gagarin’s spaceflight 50 years later (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading RCA’s line of portable hybrid televisions now available

RCA’s line of portable hybrid televisions now available originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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