Hasta La Gadget!

Apple is taking a different, more cautious tack when it comes to security these days. That doesn’t make it any less surprising that the company is planning to give a presentation at the Black Hat conference: the company will have someone on stage for the first time and won’t just socialize in the corridors. When he takes to the podium on July 26th, platform security manager Dallas De Atley will go into detail regarding iOS’ security measures in front of an audience used to finding a way around them. The company hasn’t said whether that involves current or future technology; we suspect that Apple may be eager to show what iOS 6 brings to the table, however. If it all goes down like Black Hat general manager Trey Ford says it will, Apple may both open up a bit on security and set more of the agenda this week — instead of letting conference goers set it themselves.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Apple to present at Black Hat conference for first time, talk about iOS’ padlocks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How big is $2.525 billion when you’re Apple? It won’t affect living standards in Cupertino, that’s for sure, but it’s evidently enough to be worth hauling a rival through the US courts. The figure is revealed in Apple’s damages claim, submitted in the run-up to its battle with Samsung in California, and is quite separate to other claims in Europe and Australia. If you’re not already sick and tired of this feud, then the sums behind that big amorphous total make for curious reading.

According to a unit cost breakdown by Foss Patents, Apple wants $2.02 for every previously sold Samsung product that uses “overscroll bounce,” another $2.02 for those that allow “tap to zoom and navigate,” $3.10 for those that involve a “scrolling API,” plus a mega $24 for each and every device that breaks an Apple design patent or trade dress right. That means the bulk of Apple’s claim — as much as $2 billion — is actually for aesthetic rather than technical infringements. Of course, these figures have no bearing on what the US court may eventually decide to award to either party, and neither do they factor in any strategic value of the blood from Samsung’s nose, or the negative PR that can only grow amid such litigious behavior.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Apple demands $2.02, plus $3.10… equals a total of $2.5 billion in Samsung damages originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM has been planning a 4G-capable BlackBerry PlayBook for so long that CEO Thorsten Heins’ promises of a 2012 launch still made it feel distant. If Bell Canada information breezing past MobileSyrup‘s desk is any indicator, though, the launch is coming sooner than Heins implied — just one week away, as of this writing. The slip has at least the one carrier reportedly offering an LTE-equipped, 32GB version of the 7-inch tablet on July 31st at a price of $550 Canadian ($540 US) without a contract. And yes, it would get that rumored 1.5GHz processor upgrade if there’s any substance to the story. We’d still prefer to see the tablet jump to BlackBerry 10 more than anything, especially at that kind of price, but the RIM faithful could still find something to cheer if they’re looking for a truly definitive PlayBook to make the BB10 wait feel shorter.

Filed under: Tablet PCs

BlackBerry PlayBook with 4G LTE may reach Bell by July 31st, 1.5GHz chip tagging along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s 10-inch IdeaTab S2 was one of the belles of its CES ball in offering a distinctly Transformer Pad-like experience for those not beholden to ASUS’ view of the world. While there wasn’t much attention given to the Android 4.0 tablet outside of the FCC filing we saw last month, it’s getting its time to shine at last: the device is now sitting on Lenovo’s virtual shelves as the S2110. The 10.1-inch slate’s selling point remains its (strictly optional) keyboard dock, which supplies a trackpad, an SD slot, USB and 10 extra hours of battery life to keep that movie marathon going. Even if you have no intention of constructing the Gobot to ASUS’ Transformer original, though, the S2110 is still a big leap over the so-so S2109 from the spring. A 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon APQ8060A, a rear 5-megapixel camera and a landscape 1,280 x 800 screen are all incentives to pay the premium over the S2110’s budget predecessor. Not that there will be much of a premium to pay — despite setting a $449 official price, Lenovo is already discounting the S2110 to as little as $343. That’s low enough to lure the cost-conscious away from the Transformer Pad elephant in the room, even if it reminds us of relatives that always bought us the cheaper robot toys when we were kids.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 quietly goes on sale as the Gobots of transforming tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s more than a small amount of fervor swirling around the Nexus 7, so it only makes sense that Google wants to seize the moment and pitch its first Nexus tablet to the world. Its first commercial is a very Norman Rockwell-like, father-and-son camping trip — if Rockwell replaced Boy Scouts with Jelly Beans, that is. The 7-inch slate handles just about every task the two could care for, whether it’s learning about (and exaggerating) the local fauna as well as keeping busy on a rainy day. We’ll let you witness the slight twist of an ending first-hand, although we’ll add that Google is careful to use a lot of Nexus 7 features that don’t demand always-on WiFi: the search giant wants us to know that we can head to the boonies without the tablet becoming a paperweight. The one shock is the absence of that all-important $199 price, which you’d think would help trigger some impulse shopping. You can reconcile your disbelief and enjoy some family bonding by catching the full commercial after the break.

Continue reading Google takes Nexus 7 camping for its first ad, can afford to pack light (video)

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Google takes Nexus 7 camping for its first ad, can afford to pack light (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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