You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 7 days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Instagram pictures have been wonky inside of Twitter ever since Instagram disabled Twitter cards in hopes of driving users to its own web interface. Now Instagram pictures aren’t showing at all in Twitter’s native web client, and that change is permanent. More »
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
When Microsoft announced the Surface RT, it seemed clear that the ARM-based product — with its precious adornments such as the kickstand and, of course, typing covers — sought to appeal to those wanting to do more than is typically done with tablets. Microsoft, straight-faced, calls the Surface RT a PC, but with a connotation that it is trying to transform. There’s less ambiguity around the Surface Pro. It has a capable Intel processor and runs virtually any Windows app. While someone from an earlier time might not recognize it as a PC turned off (especially with a closed Touch Cover), booting it up into Outlook would provide a convincing case.
In the story of the blind men and the elephant, the protagonists each discover some element of the majestic animal and draw conclusions about its nature without understanding the bigger (literally, in that case) picture. Now that we know the size of the Surface Pro’s elephant in terms of how much it might feed from our wallets, its relative value and competitiveness will vary greatly depending upon which assumptions prospective buyers have when considering the product.
Continue reading Switched On: The Blind Men and the Surface Pro
Fuel economy is a big deal in today’s car industry. With gas prices as high as they are and a looming energy crisis, it seems that manufacturers and consumers would both like to start weening off gas. Of course, since fuel economy is big, we hear car commercials talking up estimated miles-per-gallon figures all the time, something that has Ford becoming the subject of an EPA review.
According to The Los Angeles Times, the Environmental Protection Agency will be reviewing two Ford hybrids – the Fusion and the C-Max – which have been receiving some consumer complaints of late. Here’s the issue: Ford says that both cars achieve 47 miles-per-gallon, whether that’s city, highway, or combined. When Consumer Reports tested both vehicles, its results didn’t mesh with Ford’s claims.
Consumer Reports said that the Fusion managed 35 mpg in the city, 41 MPG on the highway, and 39 MPG overall. On the other hand, the C-Max ended up with 35 MPG in a city setting, 38 for highways, and 39 overall. Those are good results for both cars, Consumer Reports said, but obviously not what Ford was touting.
For its part, Ford maintains that reports from consumers vary, with some even exceeding the quoted 47 miles-per-gallon setting. That much seems true – depending on how you drive, your mileage will indeed vary, with some coming in below a manufacturer’s claim and others managing to beat it. In the end though, it’ll all come down to what the EPA decides, so we’ll be waiting to see what the Agency has to say after it has reviewed the data.
EPA reviewing two Ford hybrids on questionable fuel economy claims is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Patent litigation is all over the place these days, and regardless of who’s in the right or wrong in any specific case, it’s eating up a whole bunch of resources. That’s why Facebook, Google, and a number of other companies have rallied together with an amicus brief kindly asking the U.S. State Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to quit honoring crazy-vague patents. More »
Valve, as many of you already know, recently rolled Steam Big Picture Mode out of beta. For those who need a refresher, Big Picture Mode takes Steam and makes it play nice with larger screens, upping the resolution and allowing users to navigate the Steam interface using a controller. Despite the relatively simple idea, it would appear that Big Picture Mode has taken off, with Valve boss Gabe Newell telling Kotaku that the response from users has been “stronger than expected.”
Looking into the not-so-distant future, what’s on deck for Valve is rolling Steam for Linux out of beta. After that’s done, Valve wants to make Big Picture Mode compatible with Linux. Doing those two things will apparently pave the way for Valve to develop its own hardware for the living room. Newell suggests that PC manufacturers will begin releasing packages aimed at the gamer, which would be computers that players could hook up to a TV and use to run programs like Steam.
It would appear that Newell counts his own company among the ones that will be releasing these PC packages, which he points out will compete with the console world’s next generation offerings. Unfortunately, don’t expect Valve’s hardware – if it ever comes into existence, that is – to be an open system. “Well certainly our hardware will be a very controlled environment,” Newell said. “If you want more flexibility, you can always buy a more general purpose PC. For people who want a more turnkey solution, that’s what some people are really gonna want for their living room.”
Of course, we’ve been hearing for a very long time that Valve will one day begin creating gaming hardware of its own, and we have to remember that Gabe Newell is a man who likes to talk about the future of technology, especially as it relates to games. In other words, this doesn’t necessarily count as confirmation that Valve is actually working on the oft-rumored Steam Box, but it is something fun to think about. We’ll just have to wait and see how this whole thing unfolds, so stay tuned.
Newell talks Big Picture Mode, teases “turnkey” Valve PCs for living rooms is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
For some, using an iOS device as a keyboard for Apple TV is good enough, but according to a new report from 9to5Mac, it won’t be long before Apple TV users have more options when it comes to keyboard input. Specifically, we’re talking about Bluetooth keyboard functionality, which is apparently a new feature that’s about to land in iOS 6.1. Spotted in the latest Apple TV beta, this new functionality will likely be a big hit with a lot of users.
That’s because the new Bluetooth menu allows you to completely control Apple TV with a wireless keyboard, no longer requiring that you use the remote or an iOS device for keyboard input. 9to5Mac claims that tracking down the content you want to watch “becomes a thousand times easier” when you’re using a physical keyboard, so there’s plenty of reason to be excited. Unfortunately, at this point in time it looks like Bluetooth pairing is rather limited.
For instance, it appears that only keyboards are supported here, as Bluetooth speakers and mice wouldn’t play nice with Apple TV. The same is true for connecting a Mac computer through Bluetooth – it’s a no go. Never fear though, because this functionality could be the first step in a larger Bluetooth roll out for Apple. Even better, it could potentially allow third parties to develop their own Bluetooth-based remotes for Apple TV, so this is definitely one feature to watch.
This functionality is available with second and third generation Apple TV boxes, so if you’re still rocking a first generation box, you’re unfortunately being left out in the cold. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Bluetooth keyboard support for Apple TV, remember, which means that the time may finally be here. Check out our story timeline below for more on Apple TV!
Apple TV getting Bluetooth keyboard functionality with iOS 6.1 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
The Samsung Galaxy Beam is an Android-powered smartphone that has a pico projector embedded into its top edge so you can beam on-screen content onto a wall or other large surface. As well as projecting video and photo content, the projector can be used for presentations, decorative projections to create a mood, or for augmenting the phone’s alarm clock — by, for example, beaming the day’s weather forecast and your schedule onto the ceiling so it’s the first thing you see when you wake up.
… a mid-range 3G, Android Gingerbread-powered smartphone that would be entirely unremarkable if it weren’t for the pico projector Samsung has embedded in the phone’s top edge. The Beam has the photon-firing power to lift your digital stuff off the phone and throw it all over your walls — albeit, in a fairly grounded nHD resolution of 640×360. Glorious HD this is not, but it’s intended as a fun feature — not a replacement for your front room home cinema. That said, it is entirely possible to watch movies using the Beam’s projector — you just need to find a dark, cosy environment where the projection isn’t competing with outside light. High-contrast content looks the best, such as cartoons and animations, more subtle shades will just look murky.
The projector can be fired up via a physical button on the side of the phone, or by tapping on a dedicated app. The app lets you choose from multiple modes: the Quick Pad presentation mode that beams out whatever’s on screen and lets you scribble over it; Ambience mode projects decorative backgrounds plus music to create your own private disco; and Torch mode projects solid blocks of colour so you can have a scary Halloween sidekick. The projector can be a little thirsty on the battery but Samsung has put a very beefy cell in the Beam — and included a spare plus a charger-cum-phone-stand in the box — so you can be charging one battery while using the other to project. Each battery is good for around three hours of projecting time — so more than enough to watch a film. And for longer projecting sessions you just need to remember to keep one battery on charge so you always have a fully charged spare to swap to.
Elsewhere the phone is a fairly standard (i.e. mid-range) Gingerbread smartphone — with a dual-core 1GHz chip, 4-inch touchscreen, and a 5-megapixel rear camera. Samsung has previously said the Beam will get an update to Ice Cream Sandwich but don’t rely on that happening. The phone dishes up adequate Internet browsing performance, and will even handle 3D games — just don’t expect it to be a powerhouse. That’s not the point of the Beam: it’s all about the projector.
… bedroom-loving teenagers who are addicted to watching YouTube/music videos and want a fun gadget to impress their friends with.
… with its embedded pico-projector, the Beam has a pretty unique boast. Every smartphone under the sun can run apps and surf the web, but it’s a rare phone that can turn your bedroom into a micro cinema at the push of a button. Sure, the Beam is not a super-powered or super speedy phone, but it’s got enough power under its hood for the average user and — more importantly — it brings a little light into their life.
If Bravo’s Start-Ups: Silicon Valley makes you gag and, in turn, makes your gags want to gag, you could be in luck. HBO has bought the pilot for a very different Silicon Valley that might serve as an effective antidote to that reality TV schlock. More »
Canadians have had to be content with a form of Kindle Store limbo until now. They could buy Kindle e-books, but they’ve had to rely on a US-centric portal that scarcely acknowledges their literary tradition. As of this weekend, they don’t have to cross the virtual border: Amazon Canada now has its own dedicated Kindle book section, with prices in local currency and the highlights on local writers like Margaret Atwood. Customers just have shop the newly opened store to make the switch. We wouldn’t call it true parity with the US when Canucks still can’t officially buy some Amazon hardware, like the Kindle Fire HD or Kindle Paperwhite. Nonetheless, it’s nice to know they’ll be treated as first-class customers when shopping for a copy of Alias Grace.
Source: Amazon
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