Hasta La Gadget!

Shortly after MasterCard announced plans to become entangled with Google Wallet (and a few months after those ambitious Isis plans were shelved), it looks as if the aforesaid company is diving into yet another mobile payment arena. And this time, it’s personal. MasterCard and CSI Enterprises already offer a smattering of customized business cards for those with highly specific needs, and soon that partnership will extend to iOS, Android and BlackBerry OS. We’ve confirmed that the CSI Virtual MasterCard app is currently scheduled to launch in July, presumably enabling folks with a GlobalVCard to use their mobile device of choice to make payments. What’s interesting here is the inclusion of RIM and iOS; there’s no BlackBerry device (nor iOS device) on the market today with NFC, which leads us to believe one of two things: that’s either changing by July, or this here service won’t rely on NFC at all. Needless to say, we’ll keep you posted — nothing like another way to more easily indebt yourself.

CSI Virtual MasterCard app bringing mobile payments to iOS, Android and BlackBerry originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From the front it looks like yet another plain smartphone — dark, nondescript, and maybe a little like an iPhone 4 that’s had its right-most extent sliced off. Pick it up, though, and you realize this little thing isn’t so nondescript. In fact, it feels oddly substantial, with a strange bevel cutting around the edge and a curious amount of heft. And then you flip it open. Suddenly it’s a little tablet, two screens forming one 6-inch slate bisected by a few millimeters of bezel.

Shades of the Echo? Sure, but this is actually a very different device to hold, and a very different device to use. The software customizations built over Android 2.3, the bezel gestures, the proper multitasking, all make this into a unique device that feels incredibly familiar yet altogether different. It’s a prototype device from Imerj and Frog (formerly known as Frog Design) something that’s months away from production and hasn’t even been blessed with a model designation more specific than “2-in-1 smartpad.” So, is this poncho-clad Phone with No Name a legitimate threat to the established families of devices that own our little wireless San Miguel? Or, will it ride straight off into a sunset of obscurity when it launches? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Prototype dual-screened 2-in-1 Android smartpad from Imerj preview

Prototype dual-screened 2-in-1 Android smartpad from Imerj preview originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Internal documents we’ve received show Time Warner Cable is planning a major update for both its live TV streaming TWCable TV iPad app and many of its set-top boxes. TWCable TV 2.0 is scheduled to arrive on June 28th with new features including a seven day program guide, and the ability to use it as a remote control or to schedule the DVR remotely. Around that same time, its cable headends around the country will deliver the “Florence” update that brings its OpenCable Digital Navigator software to version 4.5 on certain Cisco, Motorola and Samsung set-top boxes. That should bring them up to speed with other platforms it uses, adding the ability to delete recordings in a multiroom setup, a transparent GUI, enhanced Start Over and Look Back features, settings to control aspect ratio, output resolution, pictures size and more. This may yet be the year we get to ditch the cable box, but while we still live with them you can see the full list of upgrades and which boxes will get them in the gallery and after the break.

Continue reading Time Warner Cable internal docs reveal TWCable TV iPad app, DVR upgrades on the way

Time Warner Cable internal docs reveal TWCable TV iPad app, DVR upgrades on the way originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo’s new console, the Wii U, was finally unveiled to the world today at E3 2011, and we got a glimpse of its graphical prowess at the company’s keynote. Details were scarce about the IBM silicon Nintendo’s new HD powerhouse was packing, but we did some digging to get a little more info. IBM tells us that within the Wii U there’s a 45nm custom chip with “a lot” of embedded DRAM (shown above). It’s a silicon on insulator design and packs the same processor technology found in Watson, the supercomputer that bested a couple of meatbags on Jeopardy awhile back. Unfortunately, IBM wouldn’t give us the chip’s clock speeds, but if it’s good enough to smoke Ken Jennings on national TV, we imagine it’ll do alright against its competition from Sony and Microsoft.

[Thanks, Sonny]

Continue reading IBM puts Watson’s brains in Nintendo Wii U

IBM puts Watson’s brains in Nintendo Wii U originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Engadget, broadcasting live from WWDC!

Engadget, broadcasting live from WWDC! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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