In case you hadn’t heard, Apple released the latest version of OS X recently. As expected, the newfangled Mountain Lion operating system touts a number of added features — some of which bring it even closer in sync with iOS. In this week’s issue of our e-magazine, the beast steps out into the spotlight and we offer a word or two (a few thousand, to be exact) in our full-length review of the software. If the work of the folks in Cupertino isn’t exactly your cup of tea, we also give the new Outlook.com and T-Mo’s version of the Galaxy Note a close examination with the Engadget fine-toothed comb. HTC’s Eric Lin takes a shot at the Q&A, “This is the Modem World” discusses gadget smells, “Reaction Time” chats about blockbuster releases and “IRL” exposes more of the devices that we use on the regular. Trust us, you’ll want to get comfortable this time around. Kick your shoes off and head to your download link of choice to get started.
Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is the hottest bird in aviation, and while the American-made airliner has already taken flight with passengers aboard, it has yet to land with US-flag air carrier livery along the fuselage. Japan’s All Nippon Airways was the first to take delivery, with the premier pair making their way from the assembly line in September of 2011. Last year Japan Airlines made its first scheduled voyage across the Pacific in a Dreamliner of its own, and we were fortunate enough to fly roundtrip on a domestic ANA flight leaving from Tokyo a few months later. But now the 787 is making its way to an American carrier. As the first US airline to operate the plane, United Airlines is about to take delivery of its first of 50 Dreamliners, which will join the carrier’s fleet to service both existing and new routes, such as Denver to Tokyo, which is set to launch in late March of next year.
We traveled to Boeing’s Everett, Washington factory today for a first look at United’s aircraft. While the Dreamliner looks physically identical to ANA’s plane, the on-board experience is decidedly different from what we saw in Japan. Though the Dreamliner has a very similar layout to United’s bigger 777, it feels roomier thanks to larger windows with dimmable shades, expanded overheard bins and higher ceilings. There’s plenty more to see, though, so jump past the break for a video tour of United’s new mid-size flagship, and a closer look in photos.
You do know that Parrot makes more than just the AR.Drone, right? It was at CES earlier this year that we first caught a glimpse of — and subsequently began geeking out about — the Parrot Zik by Starck. For those unfamiliar, these headphones are jam-packed with enough technologies to make even the geekiest audio lovers smitten. Priced at about $400, they feature Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth connectivity, on-board capacitive touch-control, active noise cancellation, head detection, a jawbone sensor for speech and Parrot’s audio-enhancing DSP app for iOS and Android — not to mention a striking design by the renowned Philippe Starck.
This isn’t the first time Parrot and Mr. Starck have worked together, but this does mark their debut in the portable audio market (as opposed to home-based speaker systems). In the case of this review, not one, but two Engadget editors spent some time testing the product. So, do they impress? More importantly, are they worth the $400 asking price? You know the drill: meet us after the break where we’ll lay it all out.
There’s something universally appealing about the concept of a 3D printer — that concept being an automated system capable of turning computer code into real-world objects. I found myself forced to give a brief overview of the technology to AOL employees in our shared New York City office space after a particularly noisy initial run of MakerBot’s Replicator. Reactions to such explanations tend to follow a fairly standard arc, beginning with wide-eyed wonder as one attempts to wrap their brain around the idea, followed almost immediately by a list of things they’d love to print out, given a chance. This is usually coupled with questions like “can it print food?” and “can I print a car?” Both of which speak to that larger, vitally important question: “can I print anything useful?” This, in turn, speaks to another important concern: “how long until it pays for itself?”
When we received an unexpected package from the folks at MakerBot last Friday, we realized it would afford us the opportunity to field some of these questions. Though, before opening the thing, we can tell you pretty confidently that, if you’re looking for something that will “pay for itself,” that answer won’t come in a giant cardboard box with a MakerBot logo on the side. Some key questions are a little less straightforward, however, like whether or not this technology is ready for consumers — or if it’s still just the territory of enthusiasts.
A day after upgrading its cloud music player, Amazon has delivered a native Amazon Instant Video app for iPad (not iPhone or iPod Touch, yet) to the App Store. It has access to streaming Prime Instant Video for subscribers, as well as downloaded or streamed video on-demand. Other key features include access to the Watchlist / queue, and automatic access to any shows subscribed to with a Season Pass the day after they air on TV. The free app is available in the iTunes store right now, however like the sudden appearance of Hulu Plus on Apple TV yesterday we don’t have any official PR to share just yet.
We’ve had a chance to play around with it and we must say, Amazon is really coming after Netflix with this one. The app runs smoothly, and while the video player itself gets just the bare bones iOS treatment, every other part of the app seems polished, including the Watchlist. Add in the fact that you can watch things via subscription and seamlessly jump to fresher / premium content available for purchase or individual rental (with the notable caveat that you can’t actually browse the VOD content, or purchase or buy it from within the app itself) and there’s a serious competition going on.
The first US-based 787 carrier is inching closer to its Dreamliner service launch. United Airlines celebrated the plane’s rollout today at Boeing’s Everett, Washington factory. The aircraft, which is set to begin international service later this year, received a custom livery, which includes a curved “swoop” — which oddly enough appears to be the focus of design chatter. That may just be because the public has yet to take a peek inside, though we did have an opportunity to hitch a ride on ANA’s variant last year, which has been flying throughout Japan since late 2011. Despite All Nippon’s head start, United’s flavor has garnered much attention domestically, marking a massive milestone in the Dreamliner’s delayed launch. Hit up our source link below for a few more (exterior) views, courtesy of United.
As Microsoft brings on a whole new era of computing – or so they hope – with Windows 8, so too do they attempt to take on the beast that is Gmail with their own Outlook email service on the web. What we’ve seen thus far is not a far cry from Gmail, with Microsoft taking what’s good about their Metro stylings from both Windows Phone and Windows 8 and working to make the email service as user-friendly as their biggest competitors. And what’s best – you can use the email address you already have to get all your mail in to this inbox quite simply.
When you sign in with your Microsoft account – an account you’ve already got if you have a Windows Phone, mind you, you’re instantly presented with a nice, clean, nearly-empty inbox. In the inbox you’ve got one mail from the Outlook Team and another from Windows Live Hotmail. That’s right, legacy internet users, incase you’ve not been following along – Hotmail is fully teamed up with Microsoft for this release.
Up on top you’ve got the Outlook name and logo, a + New button to start up a new email, and all the way on the right you’ve got Messaging (which connects with Facebook), settings, and a quick-link to your profile – and more account settings too. The fact that this profile link and settings are up in the upper-right-hand corner should be setting off some bells for Google. It’s a little too familiar, and we’re sure Google will have a bit to say about it soon as well.
That said, it certainly is where these elements belong. Google didn’t put them up there because they just thought they’d look nice, that’s for sure. Next you’ve got Search Email in the upper left-hand corner of the screen under the Outlook logo. This search bar is also right where it should be and makes a whole heck of a lot of sense in being there. You’ve got your Folders under this with a simple refresh button, Inbox, Junk, Drafts, Sent, and Deleted folders too. You can also make a new folder right from this list too.
Under that you’ve got several different options for how to see your email with Quick Views – documents, flagged, photos, shipping updates, and New Category again. I’m certain we’ll be using the Shipping Updates view more often than any of the rest.
The center has your emails with quick actions for more than one selection, easy to read and see fonts all around, and emails having quick-action buttons appearing when you mouse over each of them. You can also flag emails from here and you’ve got tags that show how important each mail is as well. Inside each email you’ve also got a majorly impressive view. HTML is in full effect here, with large beautiful text bodies for all to see.
The whole layout is rather respectful to the eyes, and the only piece of baggage the whole system carries over from the old world of email is the set of Bing Shopping ads that sit on the right. We’ll have to see how we can… deal with those soon. Skype for video chat will be popping up too, we’re sure, so stick around for the updates as they happen.
You can check this system out right now by heading to Outlook.com, and be sure to let us know how you like (or dislike) it all soon!
When the MacBook Pro with Retina display is in the game, Apple’s “regular” Pros may seem a bit like also-rans. After all, why would you choose them when you could get a brilliant 15-inch 2,880 x 1,800 IPS panel and a Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor? Well, price, for one thing. While we walked away from our Retina MBP review mighty impressed, that model starts at $2,199. The latest crop of Pros, meanwhile, keep the same pricing scheme as last year’s models ($1,199 and up), but step up to Intel’s third-generation Ivy Bridge processors. We took the entry-level 13-incher for a spin to get a feel for how the dual-core Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM and Intel HD Graphics 4000 stack up to the competition. Read on to see how it fared.
Google’s been adding a lot of features lately to get us to Hangout, from providing digital moustaches to scheduling virtual soirees. Now, the company’s aiming to get folks video conferencing from their inbox. That’s right, you can now start a Hangout with up to nine friends or colleagues straight from Gmail with a click of a button. Users can expect better quality as compared to Gmail’s old peer-to-peer video chats, and it provides access to people with an Android or iOS device and those on Google+ in a web browser. The new feature has already started making its way to users, and the rollout will continue over the next few weeks. Still not ready to mix your Hangouts with email just yet? Perhaps the pair of videos after the break will persuade you.
This week we’ve got our hands on the Samsung Galaxy Note as carried by T-Mobile in the USA – and with it we’ve got another home-run for the unique device team. Samsung took the time to create something unique in the Galaxy Note when it was first revealed for an international audience, and now the T-Mobile user base has the opportunity to use it on their favorite carrier. Is that the beginning and the end of it? Let’s have a peek!
Hardware
You’ve got a massive 5.3-inch screen here with 800 x 1280 pixel resolution (285 pixels per inch) across its face. Without a doubt, this is the largest smartphone you’ll ever have come across – as it is the largest smartphone on the market. Samsung would have you believe that this is not a smartphone, but a unique device that’s not a smartphone and not a tablet – but when it comes down to it, it’s completely up to you on how you define it.
The size of this device along with the width of it makes it so using the S-Pen docked within it is almost a necessity, but not quite. You’ve got a hearty collection of abilities with the device’s pen, many of which you’ll see with the Premium Suite upgrade that comes standard with this device (right out of the box.) Have a peek in the software section below to get a better handle at what the pen can do for you.
This Galaxy Note has a removable back panel so you’ve got access to your sim card as well as your microSD card, and your battery is removable, and therefor replaceable, as well. The exterior of the device is plastic on the back and around the rim while the front is one giant smooth flat reinforced glass panel. While the international edition of this device has a single physical home button, this version, as it is with the AT&T version, has a set of four capacitive buttons which work with both taps and long-presses to bring on your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades such as multi-tasking with recent app selections.
The device is certainly something you’re going to want to hold in your own hands before you purchase – it’s something you’ve got to get used to if you’ve always used palm-sized devices in the past. Once you do get used to it, you’ll have a tough time going back to a smaller screen as well as going without a pen.
Software
With this release of the Samsung Galaxy Note you’ll get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box. This device has the Premium Suite as we detailed recently on the AT&T Galaxy Note – this device has the same software save the carrier-specific bits. That means you’ve got T-Mobile’s collection of data watchers and content devourers, otherwise the whole experience is the same as the AT&T device.
Have a peek at some hands-on time we had with the AT&T Galaxy Note with Premium Suite here:
Note that you’ve got the hook up with a variety of Samsung-specific sharing abilities as well as the Media Hub for movies and television shows as well. T-Mobile also provides live TV (for a fee) and some other gems that will make you glad you’re on the big pink carrier. Benchmark tests on this device have turned up, on the whole, to be the same as they’ve been with the AT&T Galaxy Note with Premium Upgrade. Have a peek at Quadrant Standard here:
Battery Time and Signal Strength
We’ve collected several speed tests here both in Minnesota and in Southern California so you get a double dose of signal strength data. You should really take the time to check if you’re in an optimal environment for your T-Mobile 4G data to come through with the ultimate speed for yourself, as you do live in your own unique area wherever you make your home, but what you see here will give you two ideas of what you might see.
The battery on this device is massive and, like the original Galaxy Note as well as the rest of the smart device on this planet, the amount of time you’ve got with your device without battery charging completely depends on the amount you use it. If you’re a heavy user, this meaning you stream video with the Samsung Media Hub (or download it) and Tweet and snap photos and chat all day long, the possibility exists that you’ll need to charge after about 10 hours.
As for those of you that are light or average users – like myself if I’m not out traveling – you’ll not need to worry about charging all day long. Make sure you’ve got the device hooked up to a charge when you sleep at night and you’ll be fine throughout the day.
Camera
The camera here on the Galaxy Note is exactly the same as we’ve experienced with the original Galaxy Note as well as the AT&T Galaxy Note. This is not a bad thing. Check out a few 8 megapixel photos and a 1080p video shot with the device for good measure.
Wrap-Up
This is your time, T-Mobile loyal fans, to finally attain the massive handheld device known as the Galaxy Note for your own. You’ve had the opportunity to pick up the international version for one gigantic wad of cash before, as it did (and does) work on T-Mobile bands, but now is the time when you can actually purchase an affordable version right from the T-Mobile store with 2-year contract. The decision you’ve got to make now is whether you want a Galaxy Note or a Galaxy S III – both are available on T-Mobile right this minute.
Lucky you, we’ve got a Samsung Galaxy Note vs Galaxy S III on T-Mobile post prepared for you to have your sweet time with, and an international comparison if you need another look. Of course there’s also a selection of other devices on the carrier as well, but when you’re addicted to Samsung, you’re addicted to Samsung. Let us know in the comments below whether or not you’re going to latch on!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
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