Hasta La Gadget!

Qualcomm and AT&T are no longer talking about a deal, they’ve agreed to one: pending regulatory checks and other closing conditions, the wireless spectrum that was once dedicated to FLO TV will now be transferred into AT&T’s ownership in a $1.925 billion deal. Located in the lower 700MHz range, this bit of wireless space is said to cover more than 300 million people nationwide and AT&T expects it to play an important role in its future 4G network rollout and development. All that due diligence housekeeping will take the two companies a little while, with the deal expected to be finalized in the latter half of 2011, but at least we can rest assured that AT&T’s serious about not being left behind.

Continue reading AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness

AT&T buys Qualcomm’s FLO TV spectrum for a cool $1.9b, promises 4G awesomeness originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consider the rumors quelled. Despite whispers that Apple would be starting up the Mac App Store in the final year of this decade (or the first of the next, depending on perspective), the Cupertino giant has just affirmed that it’ll be 2011 before the general populace gets to dig their hands into it. January 6th is the opening date for the Mac App Store, and unfortunately for those still humming along on OS X 10.5, it’ll be a Snow Leopard-only affair. Smack dab in the middle of CES, Apple plans to unleash the store in 90 countries, and it’ll feature “paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.” Naturally, it’ll be a free update, and it’ll work more or less exactly like the App Store does on your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. As with those outlets, developers are able to set their own prices and then keep 70 percent of the revenue (provided it’s a paid app). So, who’s ready to blow a little Santa cash to ring in the new year?

Continue reading Apple Mac App Store: open for business starting January 6th

Apple Mac App Store: open for business starting January 6th originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Dec 2010 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do you love Engadget? Do you love your iPad? Have you been longing for a day when the two would finally be together? Well guess what? That day has come. Yes, it’s true, the Engadget iPad app is now live in the App Store and waiting for installation on every single iPad in existence. Like our previous iOS apps, you’ll get a ton of the great features of the site formatted perfectly for mobile devices, but we think we’ve taken things a lot further on the Apple tablet, providing tons of new browsing, reading, and exploratory options which should keep you enraptured even if terrible things like a nuclear attack or zombie invasion start happening.

All of your news-reading, podcasting-listening, video-watching, comment-posting, Engadget-tipping fantasies are about to become reality, and the application supports sharing via Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and email, while also allowing you to save articles to the iPad (in-app), Instapaper, Read It Later, and Evernote. Quite frankly, it’s awesome. The iOS 4-compatible app is available right now in the App Store, so don’t wait one more second… go get it!

And before you ask — yes, updates are coming for all of our other apps as well, including a new iPhone app with iOS 4 support, a BlackBerry update with OS 6 support, and for all you Windows Phone fans… a WP7 app for your new phone!

Engadget for iPad now available! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Calm down, everyone, please take your seats. Now, no one here is saying arsenic-bred life is impossible — they’re not saying that, so your science fiction novel (which should be beyond the outline phase and in rough draft form) is conceptually fine. But, as you might have heard, there are a number of scientists — including some that co-authored a 2007 paper that called for such arsenic-based research — who are calling into question the paper behind NASA’s big astrobiological announcement, noting what they see as “fatal flaws” and errors in methodology. Frankly, this kind of thing happens with most-to-all science papers, but given all the self-made hooplah surrounding the unveil, a public opposition seems poetically appropriate. Expect this toxic fight to propagate throughout an assortment of scientific journals, the initial test trialed numerous times over in hopes of recreating (and further verifying). Make no mistake, someone’ll be bringing a beaker to the test tube fight.

NASA paper on arsenic-bred organisms finds phosphorous-based detractors originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve had plenty of pre-knowledge on this, but surprisingly this is our first actual glimpse of Google’s new unbranded “Cr-48,” the very first Chrome OS laptop. Google will distribute the laptop through its Chrome OS Pilot Program, in a sort of public beta. You actually have to apply to join the program, and there are going to be a limited number of the laptops available — retail Chrome OS models from Acer and Samsung will be available in the middle of 2011 for the masses. Google’s doing a number of little promotions to give away the devices to interested users and businesses which will provide feedback, and it looks like there’s no way to actually pay money for one right now. Now, for the specs:

• 12.1-inch screen.
• Full size keyboard.
• Oversized clickpad.
• Qualcomm Gobi 3G chip for Verizon data in the US, your carrier of choice internationally.
• 802.11n dual-band WiFi.
• 8+ hours of active use.
• 8+ days of standby.
• Webcam.
• Flash storage.

The keyboard is the one we uncovered last week, with no function keys, but a full row of Apple Keyboard-style actions. The caps lock key has been replaced with a search button, which will enrage internet trolls and screenwriters alike. Branding-wise… there is none. The “Cr-48” refers to an isotope of the material chromium, there’s no logo and no design frills on the laptop itself, and it only comes in black. It seems Google is going out of its way to make it clear that this isn’t a mass market device, with Chrome OS still in the beta stage, and no apparent intentions to compete with third parties in the hardware space. Still, we gotta say: we wish more manufacturers would take a page out of this no-frills book. The murdered out Cr-48 looks like pure sex to us.

Google unveils Cr-48, the first Chrome OS laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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