Hasta La Gadget!

Whoa, Nelly! Is that a Firefox 4 download button we’re looking at? Why yes… yes it is! We can’t think of a much better way to wrap up one’s workday than by finding out that Mozilla’s own Firefox browser has finally made the official leap to 4.0, with Beta 1 going live for the adoring public today. It’s ready to be sucked down and installed for those with Windows, Linux and OS X-based machines, and the changelog itself is far too lengthy for this space (though it’s linked below for your perusal). You’ll obviously notice an overhauled look hitting you front and center, with a new add-on manager, support for the new WebM format, improved privacy settings and crash protection headlining the “big chart o’ features.” Give ‘er a download and toss your thoughts on the new build down in comments below, cool?

P.S. – Be warned that this may very well not work with your stable of add-ons right away, so we’d keep that stable 3.x.x build installed as a backup!

Firefox 4 Beta 1 now available for download originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew this was coming, but starting today, every citizen of Finland has the legal right to a 1Mbps broadband connection, meaning that providers are now required to make the connections available to everyone. The government of Finland has also promised to make good on its goal of getting every citizen with a 100Mbps connection by 2015, saying that they now consider internet access a basic requirement of daily life. We’re with you on that one, we promise.

Finland the first country in the world to make broadband access a legal right originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Pogoplug got an update this week that will let you, with an e-mail from any computer or mobile device, print a document on any printer you have connected with a Pogoplug.

The Pogoplug’s simplest use is for accessing your stored files over the Internet. The $130 device plugs into your Ethernet connection, and has a USB port – plug in a hard drive or a USB drive, and the Pogoplug puts all those files on the web for you to access via the Pogoplug site or the company’s iPhone and Android apps. You can also e-mail files to your Pogoplug – if you’ve got a file on another computer, you can e-mail it straight onto your hard drive instead of attempting any of the other, universally obnoxious options for getting a file to your computer.

The latest Pogoplug update lets you connect a printer to the Pogoplug, instead of just a hard drive. That means that any printer with a USB port can get connected to the internet, and you can print something just by e-mailing it. Need to print from your iPad or cell phone? Now you can.

HP announced the same feature a few weeks ago, but you’ll need to buy a new HP printer in order to print by e-mail. Pogoplug supports all HP printers and all Epson printers made since 2005 right out of the box, with more likely coming.

More and more companies are likely to adopt this same kind of feature, and printing’s going to get a lot more convenient, no matter your location or device of choice. As the world goes mobile, printing’s catching up, one funny-looking pink device at a time.

If anybody knows the future of computing, it might be Intel CTO and Labs chief Justin Rattner. So we had to ask him, “What’s next?” Well, for one, Intel Inside your phone. More »

Lookin’ for yet another avenue to hop on the 4G superhighway? Fret not, as Clearwire has just doled out a trio of new products intended to help you do just that. Prior to today, you had only a smattering of options to actually tap into Clear’s WiMAX network, but the Clear Spot 4G (WiMAX only), Clear Spot 4G+ (dual-mode with 3G / 4G support) and Clear 4G+ Mobile USB stick have all arrived to give choosy moms more choices. The prior two are simply mobile broadband hotspots (think MiFi, but for 4G), with the 4G+ offering support for Sprint’s 3G network if you happen to leave one of those few WiMAX zones already lit. The USB stick is particularly interesting, as it’s the first dual-mode device hawked by Clear that’s fully compatible with Apple OS X. The Clear Spot 4G will be made by InfoMark and available to purchase for $99.99 next month; those who hate committing can also lease one for $4.99 per month. The Sierra Wireless-built Spot 4G+ (a rebadged Overdrive; shown left) demands a hefty premium for that 3G support, with an MSRP of $224.99 (or least for $5.99 per month) and a similar July ship date. The 4G+ Mobile USB stick (shown right) will support OS X 10.5.x and 10.6.x (along with Windows, of course), and can be snapped up today for $114.99 or leased monthly for $5.99. Head on past the break if you’re thirsty for more.

Continue reading Clearwire intros new WiMAX mobile hotspots, Mac-friendly 3G / 4G USB WWAN modem

Clearwire intros new WiMAX mobile hotspots, Mac-friendly 3G / 4G USB WWAN modem originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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