Hasta La Gadget!

Do you happen to be David Beckham or Toyota? Well, congratulations — you now have a Google+ vanity URL. The rest of us looking for the football star or car manufacturer need only type “google.com/+davidbeckham” or “google.com/+toyota” to reach those respective pages, enabling easy access to that must-see picture in front of a private jet, or a vehicle recall notice. Sadly, you’re probably not eligible for a custom shortcut of your own — here’s the word from Google:

At first, we’re introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals, so please stay tuned!

So, for now, you better get comfy with “plus.google.com/108326689306432447266,” or whatever the good Goog has granted.

Filed under: Internet

Google+ offers custom URLs for verified accounts, other profiles to come ‘over time’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the Olympics finally concluded, it’s back to our regular programming. While that includes a number of premieres this week including such highlights as Oh Sit!, a musical chairs game show (really), Stars Earn Stripes and BBC America’s first original series Copper, there’s also a long list of anticipated Blu-ray releases like Shaft and this weekend, The Hunger Games. Look below for the highlights this week, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

Jaws

Just in time for Shark Week, Steven Spielberg’s classic Jaws is here on Blu-ray looking and sounding better than ever. There’s a bunch of special features included but the main attraction is that massive reason to never, ever go in the water again. Check out a quick clip about the restoration embedded after the break.
($17.99 on Amazon)

The Closer / Major Crimes

Tonight as The Closer ends with star Kyra Sedgwick leaving the show, Major Crimes picks up the baton as Mary McDonnell (of Battlestar Galactica)’s Captain Raydor takes over the unit. We’ll see if the changeover happens smoothly enough to keep this police procedural humming, but there seems little reason to believe it won’t.
(9 & 10 PM, TNT, August 13th)

The Raid: Redemption

This Indonesian martial arts flick contains some of the hardest hitting action sequences we’ve seen and definitely counts as a must-see for fans of hand to hand combat, currently rocking an 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Following a police unit trapped in a criminal-infested building on an ill-fated attempt to capture a gang leader, it doesn’t have the largest budget of 2012 or the most plot development, but who needs those anyway? If you’re still unsure about this one, check after the break for a featurette on the film’s score as well as a claymation remake of many key scenes.
($19.99 on Amazon)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (August 13th – 19th)

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Must See HDTV (August 13th – 19th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 17:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Droid 4’s update to Android 4.0 has been in the making for long enough that we’d started to wonder if someone in the QA department had a grudge against keyboards. Verizon just proved that there’s still plenty of QWERTY love to go around by posting a document, and starting a soak test, that gives the OS upgrade a rubber stamp. Motorola’s messaging phone is getting more than just a new software layer with this upgrade: the Android 4.0.4 release will switch on global roaming for those willing to pay Verizon for access abroad. Camera quality should get a quiet lift in the process, while the rest of the phone is getting a proper polish as well. Verizon hasn’t mentioned just when we’ll see that update notification flit past our screens, but the carrier’s tendency to push updates days after notices like these could see Droid 4 owners treated to Android 4.0 well before August wraps up.

Update: Apparently, “soon” means “today” for Verizon: over-the-air updates should already be rolling out to Droid 4 owners as part of a phased process.

Filed under: Cellphones

Motorola Droid 4’s Android 4.0 upgrade clears Verizon hurdles, brings global roaming soon (update: starts today) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yamaha has outed a new high-end home theater in a box to ensure that whatever audio / visual device you use, it’ll sound amazing. The YHT-679BL includes an Ethernet port for internet radio, networked music and pulling down AirPlay tunes. It’s got an iOS, Android and Kindle Fire-compatible app and there’s even a USB port up front that’ll charge your device as you use it. Offering 4K HDMI and pass-through 3D video, the unit’s clad in piano-gloss black, while a 6.5-inch, 100W subwoofer will add some floor-shaking to the two tower and three satellite speakers that are included. It’ll set you back $750, plus whatever it costs to get some soundproofing done once your annoyed neighbors are done with you.

Continue reading Yamaha YHT-697 home theater in a box brings AirPlay, iPad connectivity to the masses

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Yamaha YHT-697 home theater in a box brings AirPlay, iPad connectivity to the masses originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paid Twitter-style service App.net has achieved its self-imposed $500,000 funding goal with almost two days still left on the clock. The social platform is the brainchild of Dalton Caldwell, who said he wanted to spawn a service dedicated to users instead of advertisers. It was originally pitched to Facebook, but the two companies came to loggerheads when it clashed with the social network’s own App Center — inspiring Caldwell’s Kickstarter-style campaign. Though the software is still in alpha, over 10,000 backers have paid $50 for an annual membership or put down $1,000 for support, developer tools and a meeting with the founder. The company will now start working on its terms of service, letting users offer feedback and discover new features — and if you wanna be @John instead of @JohnFDoe99427 on the new service, you may want to pony up, quick.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Paid Twitter wannabe App.net hits $500K target with time to spare originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 09:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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