Hasta La Gadget!

It’s that time of the year when folks in the US of A tend to get a tad bit patriotic. Pretty soon, those of us in the States will be all about grilling and putting back a few hot dogs and / or hamburgers before rushing off to catch some fireworks. We’re looking to keep the spirit alive in our weekly, too. This time around, we offer up a Made in the USA edition with editorials that tackle Nevada’s solar-geothermal hybrid power plant and just how much coin it takes to offer internet in American Samoa — along with a few more stops in between. The Nexus 7 and Nexus Q were revealed at Google I/O and we offer some initial thoughts on the pair of gadgets from the folks in Mountain View. Find yourself jonesin’ for a closer look at that fancy Tesla S? You’re in luck. You’ll find some detail shots of the new $50,000 EV in “Eyes-On” this week. So what are you waiting for? There’s a monster truck on the cover for crying out loud! Dive right in to the latest issue via your download method of choice.

Distro Issue 47 PDF
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Distro in the Google Play Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
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Distro Issue 47: Made in the USA edition originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Winning gdgt’s StartUp contest has its perks — just ask recent winner Marquee, which is showcasing version 2.0 of its Media Center here on the showfloor. The imposing device, currently available on the outfit’s site for $899, packs 2TB of storage, 4GB DDR3 RAM, DVD player and a 2.4GHz dual-core Intel processor into an aluminum-lidded box to let you stream a mix of online and locally-stored multimedia content. Seen from above, the unit is mostly unadorned, save for a quite sizable power button, three circular vents and two notification LEDs. Off to the right side hiding just beneath that generous metal hood, lies ports for audio I/O and standard USB, with HDMI-out on the back.

Naturally, you need a way to parse through the goods and that’s where Plex XBMC — running atop Ubuntu 12.04 — and a custom wireless controller outfitted with a full QWERTY keyboard come in handy. According to Marquee’s CEO, set-up out of the box is a no-brainer and requires nothing more than connecting to an external display and your home network (via ethernet or WiFi) to get things started. We had the opportunity to take the Media Center for a quick test spin and immediately noticed a calibration issue that, combined with the cluttered remote, made for some extremely unintuitive navigation. You can check out some pics of the startup’s progeny below and, while you’re at it, click past the break to view a video demo of this pricey kit in action.

Continue reading Marquee Media Center hands-on (video)

Marquee Media Center hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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