Hasta La Gadget!

For those of us on the outside, India’s telecommunications setup can seem a little murky. While the country has 900 million mobile connections, for example, every 2G license issued after January 2008 were cancelled in February. Now, authorities are asking 3G carriers to suspend the practice of allowing customers to switch between different operators as they roam across the country’s 22 wireless regions — with no explanation as to why. Roaming was originally outlawed back in December, but a number of networks appealed — a move which only seems to have postponed the final ruling until today.

Update: Plenty of our commenters have shared their knowledge to help further explain this situation. No network other than BSNL purchased a nationwide 3G license during the auction. The other carriers each bought smaller (and cheaper) access — but teamed up to offer a virtual national-network. They then started to sell services in regions (or “circles”) that they had no license for, causing the Government to try to clamp down on the process by outlawing the agreements.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

Indian government tells carriers to end 3G roaming pacts, doesn’t stop to explain why originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile’s just received a hefty cash boost thanks to a tower-leasing agreement it’s entered into with Crown Castle. The deal leases 7,200 wireless towers to the infrastructure firm for a term of 28 years in exchange for $2.4 billion — that T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom will use to pay off debt. As part of the contract, Crown Castle can buy the towers outright when the deal ends in 2040 for a further $2.4 billion — and is planning to make money by adding another tenant to T-Mobile’s system, so depending on your carrier, you might find your coverage suddenly getting a lot better.

Continue reading T-Mobile leases 7,200 mobile towers to Crown Castle in a 28-year, $2.4 billion deal

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

T-Mobile leases 7,200 mobile towers to Crown Castle in a 28-year, $2.4 billion deal originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If little Johnny thought Build-a-Bear had nothing for his tech-savvy toddler sensibilities, he’d better think again. The plush toy-seller has just launched a new high-tech store concept that it hopes will help re-engage children otherwise distracted with tablets, phones and game consoles. The new additions include a 55-inch interactive digital sign out front, with touchscreen and Kinect functionality, complete with unlockable content via barcodes. Once inside, four Samsung SUR40 smart tables loaded with custom software offer a range of different parts of the teddy-making process, as well as interact with the toys in real-time — like a virtual bubble bath — thanks to a purpose-built tagging system. The sound side of things also gets a lick of paint, with six audio “zones” created, using ultrasonic speakers that can target sound to specific parts of the store and stop all the collective noise from reverberating like something from a bad dream. The first such shop is already open in St Louis, with five more locations to follow: Pleasanton CA, Annapolis MD, Troy MI, Fairfax VA and Indianapolis IN between October and November.

Continue reading Build-a-bear’s new store concept wants you to choose, love, stuff and fluff with high-tech (video)

Filed under: Misc, Alt

Build-a-bear’s new store concept wants you to choose, love, stuff and fluff with high-tech (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 06:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Curiosity may have spent a while limbering up for the mission ahead, but now it’s found evidence of an ancient streambed on Mars that once had “vigorous” water flow. Photos of two rock outcroppings taken by the rover’s mast camera between the north rim of Gale Crater and the foot of Mount Sharp reveal gravel embedded into a layer of conglomerate rock. The shape of the small stones indicate to NASA JPL scientists that they were previously moved, and their size (think from grains of sand to golf balls) are a telltale sign that water did the work instead of wind. Evidence of H2O on Mars has been spotted before, but this is the first direct look at the composition of riverbeds NASA has observed from above.

According to Curiosity science co-investigator William Dietrich, it’s estimated that water flowed at the site anywhere from thousands to millions of years ago, moved at a clip of roughly 3 feet per second and was somewhere between ankle and hip deep. “A long-flowing stream can be a habitable environment,” Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger said. “It is not our top choice as an environment for preservation of organics, though. We’re still going to Mount Sharp, but this is insurance that we have already found our first potentially habitable environment.”

Continue reading NASA’s Curiosity rover finds ancient streambed on Mars, evidence of ‘vigorous’ water flow

Filed under: Science, Alt

NASA’s Curiosity rover finds ancient streambed on Mars, evidence of ‘vigorous’ water flow originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After false starting a couple of weeks ago, the Blu-ray trailer for The Dark Knight Rises is back, and Entertainment Weekly has heard from Warner Bros. that December 4th is the official release date. Also on display from EW is this limited edition Bat Cowl packaging which will be available at launch. While there’s not a full spec list, extras will include a Batmobile-focused documentary and more than a dozen featurettes about going behind the scenes of the movie with Christopher Nolan and his team. We expect to see more details soon, for now just check out the trailer embedded after the break.

Update: The press release with all the details and an image of the Blu-ray box art are out, posted by TheHDRoom. While it’s not all listed on Amazon yet where the prices will likely be lower, the standard Blu-ray edition has an MSRP of $35.99, while the Bat Cowl Limited Edition’s tag is $39.99. Additionally, fans can nab the whole trilogy in the The Dark Knight Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset which has a price of $52.99, although they might want to wait until 2013 when The Dark Knight Trilogy Ultimate Collector’s Edition will arrive. Got all that? Check after the break for the list of extras plus the box art for both versions due this year.

Update 2: Check out the full press release after the break, including word about a The Dark Knight Rises app on iOS as well as Android for newer Samsung Galaxy devices. Already out on iOS as the Gotham City’s most wanted app, it will add more photo modification and interactive features, and when the disc is released it will become a second screen app for use during the movie.

Continue reading The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray officially set for December 4th, limited edition Bat Cowl revealed (Update)

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

The Dark Knight Rises Blu-ray officially set for December 4th, limited edition Bat Cowl revealed (Update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Sep 2012 23:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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