Hasta La Gadget!

Did you know that your second-gen Apple TV has a Bluetooth radio hidden inside it? Well it does but, until now, the only way to access it was with a little jailbreaking and some command line chops. That could all be changing though, with the release of iOS 5 this fall. 9to5Mac pulled some interesting code from the latest developer beta of iOS indicating that support for Bluetooth keyboards is coming to the Apple TV and, potentially, the ability pair other devices as well. In addition to making search without the iPhone remote app far less painful, a keyboard is an essential part of bringing apps to the tiny media box — something that has been rumored would happen for quite sometime. It’s possible these capabilities will only be unlocked on some unannounced third-gen streaming device, but we’re hoping this will bring a little life to our still reasonably new iTunes boxes.

Apple TV to score Bluetooth support with iOS 5, make search slightly less painful? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turtle Beach Xbox Chat Adapter gets the hands-on treatment, admirably untethers talkative gamers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This sleek aluminum keyboard case makes the iPad look like a MacBook Air

Keyboards all come down to feel. Buying one without trying it first — unless there is a good returns policy — is probably foolish. But that doesn’t stop me wanting to send $50 to the M.I.C Store right this minute.

The keyboard in question is the Aluminum Keyboard Buddy Case for iPad 2, a keyboard very similar in concept to the ZaggMate case. It is similarly shaped to the iPad 2 itself, with a curved aluminum back, but instead of a screen there is an almost full-sized QWERTY keyboard, complete with keys to control iPad functions like media playback and brightness. When you place the iPad and keyboard face-to-face, magnets put the iPad’s screen to sleep and you have yourself a protective cover.

In keyboard mode, the iPad slips into a slot where it is held at an angle. Respect is due to the folks at M.I.C: When they review their own case on their Gadgets blog, they call out the design for only holding the iPad at one fixed angle.

The keyboard has its own lithium-polymer battery, rechargeable via USB, and has its own sleep mode to conserve power.

If the actual keyboard on this thing is as good as a proper MacBook Air keyboard (which it resembles in miniature), the $50 is a great deal, especially considering that Apple’s own Bluetooth Aluminum keyboard costs $70.

Aluminum Keyboard Buddy Case [M.I.C Store]

See Also:

• Writer, an iPad Keyboard Case for Pros
• ThinkGeek Joins iPad Keyboard Case Cavalcade
• Aluminum Shell Hides iPad Keyboard
• Leather Case Turns iPad into Netbook
• ClamCase Turns iPad into Laptop
• IKeyboard, A Slap-On Rubber Keyboard for iPad

As things get older they tend to get bigger. It’s the same for people, corporations, models of cars, budget deficits… and so it is for webOS. As Palm was in the process of being subsumed its great mobile operating system was being eyed for much broader things, far bigger than the little phones it had previously been flashed on. Things like printers and desktops and laptops, but for its first proper foray outside of a phone it has a tall task: compete in the brutally vicious tablet space.

Its weapon is the TouchPad, a 9.7-inch tablet from HP that got official back in February and will be available July 1st (if you don’t manage to find it earlier) — $499.99 for the 16GB model, $599.99 for 32GB. That’s exactly on parity with the WiFi iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1, current kings of the tablet court. Does this plus-sized Palm progeny really have what it takes to hang at that price point, or is this just a chubby pretender that’s outgrown its britches? Read on to find out.

Continue reading HP TouchPad review

HP TouchPad review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (aka Bluetooth SIG) has some fairly grand plans for the future of its wireless technology, and it’s now recruited some big players to help get it there. The group announced yesterday that it’s added both Apple and Nordic Semiconductor to its board of directors — companies that it says will help it “drive Bluetooth technology’s expansion into platform and sensor markets.” In particular, the group is setting its sights on wireless health sensors, which it hopes to finally gain a real foothold in thanks the lower power requirements of the Bluetooth 4.0 standard, and thanks to the experience of Nordic, which has a long history of working with such devices. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Bluetooth SIG takes aim at sensor market, adds Apple and Nordic to board of directors

Bluetooth SIG takes aim at sensor market, adds Apple and Nordic to board of directors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 05:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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