Hasta La Gadget!

Amazon has just announced it has agreed terms to buy up all the remaining shares of Lovefilm it didn’t already own. The British outfit operates a subscription-based movie rental and streaming service in its home market along with Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and should give Amazon a very solid base from which to build its presumably Netflix-besting ambitions. Lovefilm has been just about the closest thing Europe has had to the ridiculously successful North American movie distributor and Amazon is arguably getting in just in time, given Netflix’s overtures toward expanding into the UK. Customary closing conditions will need to be met before the final stamp of approval is applied, but the acquisition is expected to complete by the end of Q1 of this year. Amazon’s wading into yet more content distribution, who’d have thunk it?

Continue reading Amazon agrees to buy UK movie streaming and rental service Lovefilm

Amazon agrees to buy UK movie streaming and rental service Lovefilm originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It’s been more than a year since Nokia, Apple, RIM, Motorola and just about every other major cellphone manufacturer agreed on a micro-USB cellphone charger standard for Europe, but the two key European standards bodies have just now finally followed up on their end of the bargain. CEN-CENELEC and ETSI have today published harmonized standards for a universal cellphone charger based on micro-USB, which has now put the ball back in the manufacturers’ court to actually produce phones that rely on the newly standardized chargers. According to the European Commission, the first of those are expect to arrive sometime “in the first months of 2011,” and it expects the chargers to be “predominant” within two years. Head on past the break for the official announcement.

[Thanks, Pavel]

Continue reading European standardization bodies formalize micro-USB cellphone charger standard

European standardization bodies formalize micro-USB cellphone charger standard originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 13:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  European Commission  | Email this | Comments

We already knew that it was coming to its home country of Korea in January. Now we know that LG’s Tegra 2 Optimus 2X will bring its 4-inch display and 1080p video recording capability to the Android loving shores of Europe in the first month of 2011. The detail was hidden in a rather mundane press release touting the inclusion of 25 audio files (including 15 custom ringtones) from famed film composer Ennio Morricone, a man most recognizable for scoring those Sergio Leone “Spaghetti Westerns.” While we’re not sure how this oddball partnership materialized, we do know that there are two kinds of people in this world. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig? So we’re not going to push it.

Continue reading LG Optimus 2X dual-core Android phone hits Europe in January

LG Optimus 2X dual-core Android phone hits Europe in January originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashPhone  |   | Email this | Comments

There’s just no two ways about it: what Lufthansa has managed to accomplish here is nothing short of incredible. While avid jetsetters have been enjoying in-flight WiFi on (select) domestic routes for a few years now, the in-flight fun has been coming to an abrupt halt when boarding a flight requiring a passport. The dream of long-haul in-flight internet has felt like a distant one, but it seems that the future is indeed happening today. The carrier’s FlyNet service has been relaunched this week, and with assistance from Panasonic and the 802.11n gods that be, it’s now offering broadband internet access on intercontinental routes. At first, the service will be limited to select North Atlantic routes, but access should be available on “nearly the entire Lufthansa intercontinental network by the end of 2011.”

No specific performance figures are being released, but the company does call it “extremely fast” and quick enough to open large attachments “without delay.” Better still, the airline will be enabling cellphone data access (GSM and GPRS) in the spring of next year, giving highfalutin’ bigwigs the ability to send and receive the most expensive text messages of their life. Deutsche Telekom will be providing the actual internet service, with pricing set as such: €10.95 (or 3,500 miles) for one hour or €19.95 (or 7,000 miles) for a 24-hour pass that also allows patrons to access the web on “on all Lufthansa connecting flights equipped with a hotspot during the period of validity as well as after the flight in Lufthansa lounges.” Oh, and did we mention that it’s totally free through January 31st, 2011? It is.

Update: We’re seeing expected uplink rates of 1Mbps, with download rates reaching 5Mbps. Not bad for being over an ocean.

Continue reading Lufthansa launches in-flight WiFi on intercontinental flights, ushers in ‘the future’

Lufthansa launches in-flight WiFi on intercontinental flights, ushers in ‘the future’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 15:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Gadling  |  Lufthansa  | Email this | Comments

Still holding tight to the “Sharing is Caring!” mantra? Not afraid in the least of handing out a few kilobytes to lost tourists down below? If so, you’re a prime candidate to own a Fon router; for those unaware, Fon’s goal is to equip the world with its 802.11n routers, and then distribute WiFi through them for all to enjoy. The device creates two WiFi signals (SSIDs), one private and one public, and for anyone who knows the pain of being desperate for just a single open hotspot, it’s a product (and mission) worth supporting. The Fonera SIMPL was introduced way back at Mobile World Congress, and while the company said it had an order for 400,000 then, that figure has risen rather significantly since. Today, it’s revealing that two million of these guys have been sold to telecommunication companies around the globe, with British Telecom, MTS-Comstar Russia, SFR France, SoftBank Japan and ZON Cable Portugal named in particular. The general idea is to provide these to customers in order to lighten the overall load for everyone else, but those looking to buy in sans help can finally do so — the SIMPL’s going for $49 / €39 right now directly through the outfit’s website and we’re confident that you’ll do the right thing.

Continue reading Fonera SIMPL router now on sale for $49, moving quickly to telcos

Fonera SIMPL router now on sale for $49, moving quickly to telcos originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Fon  | Email this | Comments