The Daily Roundup for 1.1.2013

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You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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The Weekly Roundup for 12.24.2012

The Weekly Roundup for 12032012

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.

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Ask Engadget: best barebones workstation chassis?

Ask Engadget best barebones workstation chassis

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Charles, who’s capping off the year with a fine question about DIY PC chassis. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I work in motion graphics and it’s upgrade time. I’m a DIY and Windows nut, so I’m looking to build my own tower, but the cases are all so horrible! I don’t need a plastic window, or something that looks like it was designed by aliens — just something that’s sharp, solid, good looking and has a respectable airflow. Is that too much to ask?”

Well, we trawled our brains (as well as a fair chunk of the internet) looking for some classy chassis, and this is what we found:

  • Corsair’s Obsidian 550D may have a plastic window, but otherwise it’s a monolithic piece of imposing black metal that won’t ugly up your office.
  • Coolermaster’s Silencio 650 is hewn from diamond-cut aluminum and drops the plastic window, and given the company’s heritage, should have excellent airflow.
  • Finally, there’s the Lian-Li PC-A71F, which can only be described as terrifyingly sleek.

But what about you all? Let’s cap the year off with some stylish PC cases, peace and goodwill to everyone and a very happy New Year to you, the Engadgeteers.

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Insert Coin: Engadget Is Looking For Some Cool Crowdfunded Projects

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Our brothers and sisters over at Engadget are holding their first red hot, super exciting conference called Expand in SF in March. The event will feature all the boring old commercial hardware you could imagine, including the latest from all the hardware greats but, more important, they’re also reaching out to a contingent dear to my heart: crowdfunded gadgets.

Having a brilliant idea isn’t always enough. Bringing a product to market requires support, marketing and above all, funding. Lots and lots of funding – but don’t worry, we might be able to help you get there.Engadget is proud to announce the launch of Insert Coin: New Challengers, a new competition aimed at helping to make those dream gadgets a reality. If you’ve seen our long-running series about the most promising crowd funded hardware, you can imagine that concept taken to the stage for a live competition between the best of the best new inventions.

Remember: this is for unlaunched products only and, knowing the field, this will be pretty competitive, so those with solid sterling-silver iPad stands will have to take a seat. If you’re ready to run with the big dogs, pop over here and submit and let us know how it goes. You know I love the smell of fresh crowdfunded projects in the morning.

Ask Engadget: best nettop for family use?

Ask Engadget best nettop for family use

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Robin, who wants to help the older generation get online. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“Hi Engadget, I’m looking for a desktop for my parents, and since they rarely play any 3D games, I think a nettop might be ideal. Anything that has an HDMI output would work, so what do you recommend? Thanks very much”

Lenovo’s latest Q190 arrives in January, will set you back $350 and comes with Windows 8, while the eco-friendly (but less-powerful) ASUS EeeBox EB1030 is $370, but should do a similarly decent job with your parents early adventures in tweeting. But how about you out there? Can you suggest a nettop that’s even more desirable? Now that the world hasn’t ended (at least when the Mayans said it would) you can share your knowledge in the comments below.

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Distro Issue 69: Can David Marcus fix PayPal’s reputation?

Distro Issue 69 Can David Marcus fix PayPal's reputation

It’s no secret that PayPal has had its fair share of speed bumps, but can a change in leadership help usher in a new era? The online payment outfit’s new president, David Marcus, seeks to do just that and we offer a look at said task inside our weekly. As far as full-length reviews are concerned, we put both the Galaxy S III Mini and Acer’s $199 Chromebook through their respective paces. IRL is back with another look at our personal gadget stash, Recommended Reading examines the Lytro and The Almost’s Jon Thompson takes a run at the Q&A. The requisite download links reside below, leaving you mere clicks away from some relaxing weekend e-reading.

Distro Issue 69 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
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Source: iTunes, Google Play

Ask Engadget: WiFi or wired networking?

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Jordan, who wants some geeky help with an ambitious home project. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’ve just bought a run-down old house (all I could afford) and I want to make it into a geek paradise. Part of that means I want a world-class home network, but what should I pick? The electrics will all need to be re-done, so I could easily wire in Gigabit ethernet along the way, or should I settle for a couple of high-powered WiFi routers at either end of the house? Any help you can offer would be great, thanks!”

Well, we’ve given it some thought and we’re wondering if you’re not better off doing both. After all, with a beefy ethernet switch, you can wire up your heavy-duty gear, but you’ll need at least one WiFi adapter for your smartphone or tablet. The only question is if you really need wired networking in 2012 at all, but that’s a question we’ll leave open to our commenters.

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Distro Issue 68: PC game designers and the quest for compatibility

Distro Issue 68: PC game designers and the quest for compatibility

Well friends, the week’s end brings with it an issue of our tablet mag that’s hot off the digital presses. PC gaming nabs the cover story this time out as we take a look at the task of insuring compatibility across a set of devices that adds customized models constantly. If full-length gadget reviews are what you’re after, we put the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist, Kindle Fire HD 8.9 4G LTE and Nintendo Wii U through their paces. Will.i.am’s latest venture hits Hands-On, Oakley’s high-tech eyewear occupies Eyes-On and Weekly Stat tracks holidays on Instagram. Visit your preferred reading repository to grab a copy before settling in for some weekend R&R.

Distro Issue 68 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
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Source: iTunes, Google Play

The Engadget Show 38: Robopocalypse with Chris Anderson, Daniel H. Wilson and our future robot overlords

Greetings from the distant future of 2013. We stand in a basement of a wasteland once known as “New York City,” to deliver you tales of the impending Robopocalypse. We’ll take you to “San Diego” where former Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson and his 3D Robotics business partner Jordi Muñoz are offering up the technology to help turn robotic helicopters into autonomous drones. Next up, author Daniel H. Wilson discusses his own prophecies in the bestselling Robopocalypse (soon to be a Spielberg-directed motion picture). Wafaa Bilal, the NYU professor who had a camera implanted in the back of his head, tells us about his life as an cyborg — and what it’s like having strangers on the internet shoot you with paintballs.

We’ve got a trip to the Robot Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh where we speak to BigDog creator Marc Raibert, iRobot in Massachusetts, Bot & Dolly and Keepon-maker BeatBots in San Francisco and Willow Garage, home of the PR2. We’ll also travel to MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech and Northeastern University to find how some of our nation’s top schools are contributing to the forthcoming robotic apocalypse. And, seeing as how it wouldn’t be an Engadget Show without the Gadget Table, we crack open a time capsule from 2012, to check out some of the top consumer electronics of the day including the Microsoft Surface, iPad Mini and Nexus 4 and 10.

Be sure to watch this very special episode of the Engadget Show. Your life — and everything you hold dear — just might depend on it.

Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 038 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 038 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show – 038 (Small)

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The Daily Roundup for 11.24.2012

DNP The Daily RoundUp

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

Continue reading The Daily Roundup for 11.24.2012

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