Dealzmodo alert! You can score a refurbished new iPad 16GB with Retina Display for only 400 bucks at Wal-Mart right now. That’s $100 off retail and $50 off the refurbished model in the Apple Store. This is very probably the best deal you can get on the new iPad. More »
Microsoft Corp. has proudly introduced the Sculpt Comfort Keyboard, an ergonomic keyboard featuring an enlarged split spacebar with optional backspace functionality on the left-hand side of the spacebar. What makes this wireless keyboard special is that it includes several keys that give customers quick access to the most commonly used Windows 8 features, including Search, Share, Device and Settings hot keys and an updated Windows key. The Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard is priced at $59.95. [Microsoft]
All we know so far is that it’s possibly coming to US shores at some point in November, but the good news is that Sprint brought along one of the world’s most famous phablets to a press event in New York City and, better yet, we got to play with it for a little while. Yes, we’re talking about the Galaxy Note II. Looks-wise, the Now Network’s flavor of that 5.5-inch behemoth hasn’t exactly changed much from the unit(s) we landed our hands on when it was first unveiled to the world, meaning there’s no “Sprint” branding anywhere to be found on the plastic shell — at least for now, and, frankly, we kind of hope it stays this way. With that being out of the picture, the oversized handset looked as shiny as ever in its Marble White attire, which is the only color Sprint was happily showing off for the night. And while this particular Jelly Bean-loaded Note II was capable of running on the carrier’s new LTE network, we weren’t able to test out out data speeds due to matters out of our reach.
On the software side of things, we didn’t notice any major hiccups worth pointing out, with the experience being rather similar to the one during our first encounter with Sammy’s second-gen Note — or, in other words, it felt very, very snappy and overall great. That said, the carrier, as it did with the Galaxy S III, looks to be pre-loading the device with some of its own applications, including ones such as Sprint Zone and other third-party apps like Polaris Office 4. Naturally, we popped the obvious question to Sprint of when we could expect the device to legitimately become part of its lineup, to which the carrier told us that it’d be sometime “this holiday season.” For now, it looks like the hands-on gallery below will have to suffice, but you can be sure we’ll let you know as soon as we find out the official release date.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Samsung Galaxy Note II for Sprint hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 20:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The MMT Monitor2Go is a portable 15.6-inch monitor that can be used as a docking station for your iPad 2 or new iPad 3 (or any HDMI tablet). You just need to connect your tablet to the screen via an HDMI cable, and it will mirror your tablet’s display on the bigger screen. Measuring 15.1-inch x 10.1-inch x 1.1-inch and weighing about 3 pounds, the Monitor2Go adopts the DisplayLink technology, so you can also connect to any Mac or Windows laptop through USB connection. The MMT Monitor2Go is priced at $299 each. [Product Page]
PNY Technologies today introduced the Mini Hook Attache USB flash drive. Available in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB of storage capacities, the flash drive features a unique hook and lock mechanism that ensures maximum security and portable storage and sharing of images, videos, documents and more. It is compatible with all existing versions of Windows operating system and Mac OS 10.3 above. [techPowerUp]
I love it when people come up with designs and gadgets that make it easier and convenient to do stuff that would normally take a while, like grill a burger. But the Exhaust Burger – I don’t love.
From the name and its shape, you can probably guess that this thing is supposed to be attached on your car’s exhaust pipe. So as you drive to your office and back, you can stop by the roadside and grab the burger that’s cooked to perfection from the heat of your car’s exhaust.
It is supposed to isolate the smoke from the cooking surface, but it still doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it? Thank goodness it’s just a concept for now.
The Exhaust Burger was designed by Roohollah Merrikhpour, Mina Mirzahossein, Narges Alam, Hani Saghaiyan, Elmira Manafnejad, Sanaz Ghaem Maghami, and Navvab Bahreyni.
[via designboom via Incredible Things]
Before today, Carbonite had a few mobile apps, but the backup process was something of a one-way street: you could access content on your handset, but you couldn’t back up the contents of your phone. That changes today with Carbonite Mobile, a free app for iOS and Android that allows you to upload photos and other files to Carbonite.com. In addition to backup, though, the Android version offers some features typically reserved for standalone mobile security apps — things like remote wiping and the ability to reset the phone to factory settings if it falls into the wrong hands. Additionally, you can use the app to locate your lost device on a map, and you can also set off the ringer, even if you had set the phone to vibrate. In the case of the Android app, the software will run in the background; due to Apple’s different set of APIs, it won’t run 24/7. However, all you iPhone owners out there can program the application so that it backs up the device automatically when you get home. Curious? We’ve got screenshots below along with download links in Google Play and the App Store.
Gallery: Carbonite Mobile screenshots
Carbonite Mobile backs up the contents of your phone, Android version supports remote wipes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Today, Apple‘s new Maps app in iOS 6 has been the subject of a lot of criticism. Some iOS 6 users aren’t exactly satisfied with Apple’s attempt at entering the navigation space, and Nokia has jumped on the opportunity to talk about its own suite of navigation tools offered to its users. In a post on the Nokia Conversations blog, Nokia’s Pino Bonetti compared the company’s Location Platform to the competition with a series of benchmarks, taking a few shots at Apple in the process.
To be fair, the benchmarks include Google Maps along with Apple’s new Maps app, but this post is clearly capitalizing on the unrest surrounding Apple Maps. “Unlike our competitors, which are financing their location assets with advertising or licensing mapping content from third parties, we completely own, build and distribute mapping content, platform and apps,” Bonetti writes. “In other words, we truly understand that maps and location-based apps must be accurate, provide the best quality and be accessible basically anywhere. That’s been standard practice at Nokia for the past six years, and we also understand that ‘pretty’ isn’t enough. You expect excellence in your smartphone mapping experience.”
That’s some big talk, but Nokia’s benchmarks seem to back it up. In most cases, Nokia’s Maps suite comes out on top when compared to Google Maps and Apple’s new effort. There are a few instances where Google Maps matches Nokia’s Location Platform, but in almost all of the comparisons, Apple comes in last. Click the thumbnail below to see the full results of Nokia’s benchmark tests.
In this case, we have to say that Nokia has a right to brag. Nokia’s Location Platform is loved by users, and it’s easy to tell that a lot of work went into making it a solid set of apps. Google Maps may be the more popular navigation service (and admittedly it’s pretty good to boot), but the big G certainly has a worthy challenger in Nokia. What do you think of Nokia’s Location Platform? Do you prefer it over Google Maps?
Nokia takes a shot at poorly-received Apple Maps app is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Back at IFA we spent most of our time handling new tablets and Win 8 devices, but, given that the show has grown into something of a mini-CES, there was news in almost every product category, portable audio included. TDK announced a trio of speakers that week, and though we didn’t get hands-on in Berlin, we got a second chance tonight at a New York City press event. In particular, the company is showing off its first ruggedized product, the Wireless Weatherproof Speaker. As you can see in those photos down there, it has all the stylings of a run-of-the-mill portable speaker, except it also happens to be IP64-certified against the elements. When TDK talks about its durability, it talks about liters of dousage, so a splash on your next beach vacation shouldn’t be an issue.
As for audio, it has two speakers up front, a subwoofer and two passive radiators ’round back. TDK declined to clarify the wattage, but we’ll say this: the little guy is powerful enough that we could hear it over the din at Pepcom, a local press event. And, TDK had a larger, more powerful speaker playing nearby, and we still had no problem hearing the song coming from the weatherproof model. Granted, then, this was hardly the best scenario to evaluate audio quality, but we did sense that the treble was a bit trapped compared to the bass, which came through loud and clear. Lastly, there’s a rechargeable battery inside, which TDK rates for up to six hours of runtime. It’ll go on sale in late October for $250, but in the meantime help yourself to some first-hand shots below.
Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video
TDK preps its first weatherproof speaker, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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