Hasta La Gadget!

LAS VEGAS — After all the ruckus at CES 2011 over Motorola’s Honeycomb-dedicated XOOM tablet died down, I got a chance to get my hands on the latest in the company’s Droid series of smartphones, the Bionic.

Like its Droid X predecessor, the Bionic is definitely not small. The 4.3-inch screen is one of the largest on the smartphone market right now, and if you’re wearing tight jeans and hoofing it around the Vegas strip all day like I’ve been doing, a fat-bodied Bionic in your pocket might bring on a bit of chafing.

But the screen’s aesthetic appeal makes up for any inconvenience its size may bring. Shooting pictures with the back-facing 8-megapixel camera was made easier by the extra screen area for planning and viewing shots.

Whereas Apple’s iPhones are all about the smooth-backed covers, the Bionic goes the way of rubberized grip-style case. The phone’s backside has ample tooth to it, another line of defense against clumsy phone-droppers like myself. But the gripping doesn’t make the Bionic feel bulky or weighed down. It’s a nice touch, even if it may add to the aforementioned pocket-chafing.

We weren’t allowed to pop open the hood to see the phone’s 1-GHz dual-core processor insides, but by the looks of flipping through the Android 2.2 menu screens, the Bionic’s guts seemed to be doing their job well. No visible stuttering was to be seen in the few apps I ran, and load time was minimal. It was, however, a brand new phone with its 16 GB of on-board storage still relatively empty. I’d like to see how it runs after an app-hungry tween has had her hands on it.

All in all, I dug what I saw of the Bionic. It may be a bit large for my taste, but for the crowd that’s into the big and powerful (and prefers a Motorola handset over a Samsung offering) the Bionic is surely worth a second look.

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Energizer rolls into CES with new power packs, inductive chargers, solar products, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two additions to the Epson WorkForce line of multifunction printers add print, scan, and fax functionality to your SMB arsenal.

Originally posted at CES 2011

DARPA’s new BLADE initiative doesn’t involve a blood sucking Wesley Snipes in a black leather trench coat, but we still think it’s pretty awesome. This BLADE stands for Behavioral Learning for Adaptive Electronic Warfare, and is focused on developing a system of algorithms that will automatically jam threatening wireless communications on the battlefield. DARPA gave $8.4 million to BAE Systems to implement the project, which will detect, analyze, and counter wireless communications, without human involvement. BLADE would also allow troops to overcome enemy counter-jamming measures and prevent the use of remotely controlled IEDs. The system is broken up into three central components: detection and characterization, jam waveform optimization, and battle damage assessment. DARPA expects BLADE software to be easily integrated into existing electronic warfare equipment, and should be ready for use in 2012 — still no word on a comeback for Mr. Snipes.

DARPA awards BAE $8.4 million for BLADE wireless jamming initiative originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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