Do a Google search for “Karen De Coster” and you’ll turn up a photo of her—a few photos, actually—wearing Daisy Dukes and a sky-blue tank top, her short blonde hair tied beneath a black paisley bandana. She’s brandishing a giant assault rifle, crouched on a scrubby hillside, in a defensive position, like she’s confronting an unseen enemy. More »
Samsung, which supplies NAND flash for a variety of smartphone makers, recently announced that they’ve produced a 128GB (GigaBytes) NAND chip–twice the density of the current NAND storage champion, which checks in at 64GB on a single chip. We can probably expect this chip to end up in the–surprise–Galaxy S III as well as other high-end smartphones. The chips are plenty capable. They read data at 140Mb/s and write data at 50Mb/s.
Although 128GB of built-in storage was a common request for the iPhone 5, it was not an available upgrade during this cycle. Apple may not be able to provide a 128GB version next year, because it recently moved its NAND flash supplier from Samsung–currently the only company producing a 128GB chip–to the other big three suppliers, Toshiba, SanDisk and Hynix.
So we’re probably going to see 128GB built-in storage on Android and Windows Phones before we see it on an iPhone. Full press release here.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Creepy marketing campaign “will find you” with GPS-equipped candy bars, Google says iOS Google Maps in App Store hopefully “before Christmas”,
Is there something wrong with T-Mobile’s top brass, at least here in the US, that they continue to frustrate their loyal customers? Not too long ago, T-Mobile was supposed to offer the Samsung Galaxy Note, but pulled out of it at the eleventh hour (never mind the fact that the Galaxy Note was already available on other carriers months prior), only to placate the masses with news that they will be offering the Galaxy Note 2 for sure. The thing is, the latest internal screen grab showed off what we already know concerning the Galaxy Note 2 in terms of hardware specifications, ranging from the quad-core processor to HSPA+ 42mbps connectivity and a rather massive 3100mAh battery.
One sore point that many Galaxy Note 2 owners would take into consideration is the fact that there does not seem to be any LTE support for the upcoming device, where it would have been nice to see T-Mobile future-proof the Galaxy Note 2 to be compatible with T-Mobile’s LTE network which is said to launch sometime in the middle of 2013 onwards. Would the lack of LTE connectivity affect your purchase decision?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 confirmed for T-Mobile US, Samsung Galaxy Note 2 headed for Verizon, and more [rumor],
A lot of people were expecting Sony to announce a PS3 price cut when it took the stage at the Tokyo Game Show a few days back, but that isn’t the announcement we were given. Instead, Sony announced a brand new, super-slim PS3 model, upping the internal memory (at least in the United States) but keeping prices the same. In a new interview with Engadget, SCEA VP of marketing, handhelds and home consoles John Koller explained why we didn’t see a price cut on the older PS3 models despite the fact that a new one is on the scene.
Kollar says that the reason the company didn’t announce a price cut is because consumers care more about quality content than they care about pricing. “There’s no price drop formally, but the thing that’s been happening in the market over the last year or so is that there’s been so many retail price promotions, and so many different gift card offers and all those things, being done by all of us (Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony), that we’ve heard from our consumers, ‘Enough with all these weird price moves. What we really want is content and games and value,’” Kollar said.
While Kollar’s response leaves us scratching our heads, there’s another reason why we aren’t seeing a price cut on the older PS3 models: they won’t be around much longer. This new PS3 is now Sony’s standard model, meaning that the company will soon stop producing the other models. Of course, there’s also the question of why Europe is getting a 12GB flash memory model that the United States is missing out on, and Kollar says that’s because US consumers are more likely to buy games digitally than those playing in Europe.
Therefore, Sony wanted to make sure that it offered US consumers a PS3 with a ton of internal storage out of the box. Naturally, the PS3 allows users to expand its memory by attaching USB external hard drives or opening the console up and replacing the internal hard drive altogether, but Kollar says that in his experience, consumers typically just buy another console instead of opting for either of those memory solutions. So, those in the US will have quite a bit of internal storage from the get-go, whereas those in Europe can purchase the 12GB flash model and either expand the memory later or live a disc-based existence. Sony’s new PS3 launches here in the US on September 25, just a few days from now – are you picking one up?
Sony discusses lack of PS3 price cut at TGS is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
If you’re the type that wants optimal sound while gaming then Skullcandy has a few new stylish headphones you might want to take a peek at. While we’ve seen some crazy designs from them in the past these three new gaming headsets look rather impressive. They’ve quietly unveiled the SLYR, PLYR 1, and PLYR 2 headsets.
Whether or not these can compete with the likes of Turtle Beach and more remains to be seen, but Skullcandy’s recent purchase of Astro Gaming should surely help. This past week they announced three new headsets on their website, but we haven’t heard or seen much about them until today.
The SkullCandy SLYR (don’t ask where they came up with that name) will grace their budget offering starting out at around $80, and then the others will increase with the impressive PLYR 2 hitting the $180 mark. The SLYR features a wired headset, a foldable boom-mic for portability, and the usual in-line volume controls and mute those gamers all love.
It looks like SkullCandy will be offering a set of different EQ options with all three new headsets too. Then moving on the more expensive models. The PLYR 1 and 2 offer awesome sound, exceptional design and colors, and the same foldable boom-mic. They’ll run you $130, then the more expensive PLYR 2 hits the $180 mark having a $50 premium simply for Dolby Digital headphone surround sound virtualization features. More details can be found at Skullcandy for those interested.
[via Engadget]
SkullCandy unveils a trio of gaming headsets is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
A French citizen has unintentionally breached the security of the French central bank (Banque de France) over the phone and was freed by French authorities after being accused of “hacking” the central bank’s and triggering a 48-hours shut down of that particular computer system which handles the consumer indebtedness files (basically people who are flagged as having a very bad credit history).
The man was trying to go around the paid telephone consumer support system and got from Internet forums what he thought was a direct-line to the central bank employees (yes, in France, you have to pay for most form of telephone support). When asked for a code by an automated system, he entered 123456 and it worked – he had just breached the central bank’s security.
It gets better: according to the man’s attorney, 654321 would have worked as well. It looks like the French central bank password is using a checksum based on additions or other very simple methods… (lol, scary). Maybe it’s time to “beef-up” security…
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sony Pictures France hacked, France fines Google for collecting personal data over Street View,
Use of cell phones has become an integral part of our lives. It is because they cater to the urge as well as the need to stay connected 24/7 with our contacts and loved ones. However, when on a flight, it is often annoying that you are simply not able to make calls using your cell phone. Boeing is prepping up to change that.
The company has plans of upgrading its modern planes such as Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental as well as Boeing 787 Dreamliners so that passengers aboard these planes will be able to make calls using their cell phones. It has stated that it intends to achieve this goal by 2013. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be equipped with Android-based entertainment systems, Boeing to Jump into Android Powered Mobile Business,
It doesn’t take much driving to notice that many in-car infotainment systems are custom-built and locked down tight. The Linux Foundation sees it differently and wants our cars to embrace the same notions of common roots and open code that we’d find in an Ubuntu box. Its newly-formed Automotive Grade Linux Workgroup is transforming Tizen into a reference platform that car designers can use for the center stack, or even the instrument cluster. The promise is to both optimize a Linux variant for cars and provide the same kind of years-long support that we’d expect for the drivetrain. Technology heavy-hitters like Intel, Harman, NVIDIA, Samsung and TI form the core of the group, although there are already automakers who’ve signaled their intentions: Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Toyota are all part of the initial membership. We don’t know how soon we’ll be booting into Tizen on the morning commute, but we’d expect in-car systems to take a step forward — just as long as we don’t have to recompile our car’s OS kernel.
Filed under: Transportation
Linux Foundation forms Automotive Grade Workgroup, aims to open-source your ride with Tizen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
War is serious business, and you know that there is no extra life for you to fall back upon unlike in a video game. Ever wished that you could help sacrifice yourself for the safety of your team, without dying in the process? You can soon perform kamikaze attacks behind enemy lines, thanks to Textron Defense Systems’ latest invention, a flying drone which was specially designed to blow up upon contact with enemy positions. Known as the BattleHawk Squad Level Loitering Munition, this compact flying will be equipped with a 40mm high-fragmentation charge.
An integrated video camera located in its nose lets you see where it is headed, so that ground troops are able to remotely pilot it to attack hiding enemy forces. It reminds me of the classic Cyber Empires game for the PC, where you fired long range missiles from your robot and controlled where it went, exploding upon impact.
Tipping the scales at approximately five pounds when packed inside its special launching tube, a built-in spring will help propel the drone into the air, where the electric motor will then kick start the small rear propeller. The moment it is launched, it is armed, where it travels at up to 60mph to its target with a maximum flight time of 30 minutes thereabouts. It specializes in attacking dismounted enemies and light-skinned vehicles, so forget about busting tanks with this puppy.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Unmanned Air Force space plane lands in California by itself, Brains scanned for potential battlefield threats,
While much of the world knows the game with a round black and white ball as “football,” here in the U.S., we call the game “soccer.” So this picture of multiple Spocks dressed up in soccer uniforms probably only makes sense here, in Canada and maybe Australia. Er, actually, it doesn’t make sense at all.
But that doesn’t mean the image doesn’t make me giggle like a little schoolgirl. There’s just something so silly about this image by artist Tommervik that I want to make it the wallpaper on my computer now.
But if your ambitions are greater than desktop wallpaper, you can pick up an 11×14 canvas print of this goofy image over on Etsy for $140(USD). It’ll look great alongside that Mona Lisa you picked up a couple of years back.
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