Hasta La Gadget!

Google+ app update welcomes iPhone users to Hangouts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Driving cars on the floor is so passe, which is exactly why you need iHelicoter’s wall-scaling iW500. We’ve seen similar gravity-defying propositions in the past, but this is the first to be controlled by your iOS device. Belying its 90s toy looks, the car attaches itself to vertical surfaces with a sealed vacuum that even has enough suck to drive upside-down across your ceiling. As you’ll see in the video after the break, controls are handled using the built-in accelerometer on your phone or tablet as well as the touchscreen interface on the dedicated app. It’ll join a crowded starting grid of iPhone-friendly RC cars, helicopters and monster trucks, priced at $59.99.

Continue reading iOS-controlled iW500 RC car defies gravity, paint job may drive you up the wall (video)

iOS-controlled iW500 RC car defies gravity, paint job may drive you up the wall (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Epson’s projector hooks up directly to your iDevice

When held at movie-watching distance from my face, my iPad’s screen appears bigger than any of my friends’ TVs, all of which are on the other side of the room. But with more than two people watching a film, things can get a little crowded. Enter Epson’s Megaplex MG-850HD, an LCD projector with a pop-out dock.

The Megaplex takes the audio and video from your iDevice and kicks it out through a pair of ten-watt speakers and a 2,800-lumen lamp at 720p resolution. It’s portable, too, with a carrying handle, and will juice your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch when plugged in.

You can also hook up other gear via component cables, HDMI, USB or VGA and there are even headphone and mic jacks, for solo listening or (presumably) karaoke.

As someone who doesn’t want or own a TV, and does all (and I mean all) of his TV and movie-watching on an iPad, I’m actually pretty interested in this thing. What I’m not interested in is the $800 price-tag. I guess I’ll just have to stick to pico projectors and darkened rooms when friends come to visit.

Epson Megaplex product page [Epson via UberGizmo]

See Also:

• Power-Free iPhone Projector: It's All Done With Mirrors
• Tiny, Portable iPhone Dock Projector

The walls of tyrannical exclusivity may soon come crashing down in Japan. According to Nikkei, “officials” in the know have indicated that KDDI is gearing up to release the iPhone 5 on its network, thus ending competitor SoftBank’s reign as the iconic device’s sole provider in the Land of the Rising Sun. As we’ve come to expect in the days leading up to official Apple announcements, the details are incredibly scant. SoftBank, the third-largest carrier in the country, has been inching closer and closer to second-place KDDI with very little breathing room left; it’s understandable, then, that the latter would be eagerly awaiting the end of iPhone exclusivity to make an agreement with Apple and boost its subscriber count. As it’s all hearsay for the time being, we’ll just have to wait a little while longer before we know every detail on the mystery device(s).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

KDDI may get iPhone 5, putting an end to Softbank’s exclusivity in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on June 11, 2008 by CyberNet.

With the announcement of the iPhone 3G has come some confusion over who qualifies for an upgrade. This time around the phones are being subsidized by AT&T which means they have control over who gets upgraded pricing and who doesn’t. Some current 2G iPhone owners have been confused thinking that they won’t be able to get the phones priced at $199 and $299. Thankfully an internal memo to AT&T employees explains the upgrade process and who qualifies. Assuming this is a legitimate memo, here are the answers to your upgrade questions.

I own a 2G iPhone, will I be eligible for the $199 and $299 pricing for the iPhone 3G?

The short answer is yes (big sign of relief). The long answer, from the memo says: “When the 3G device launches, all active postpaid customers in good standing with a 2G iPhone will be eligible to receive the qualified upgrade pricing for a 3G device regardless of service tenure. Customers that would not otherwise be eligible due to tenure will be made eligible at launch.

Just keep in mind that you will have to re-sign a 2-year contract and you’ll also be forced to change your current plan to one that includes the increased price for faster 3G speeds.

I’m an AT&T subscriber but I don’t have a 2G iPhone. Will I be able to get the iPhone 3G for upgrade pricing?

The short answer is maybe. The long answer is that it will depend on when it was that you signed your contract, and possibly when (or if) it was that you upgraded to your current phone. AT&T hasn’t outlined the specifics here yet, and they haven’t said what the non-upgrade pricing will be. Our guess is that it will be about $100 more for each model.

What if I sign-up for AT&T and get an iPhone 3G when it launches and I don’t like it. Can I return it?

Certainly you can return it and cancel your service, just as long as it’s within 30 days from when you bought it in the first place. Some people thought this might be the way that they’d be able to purchase phones to unlock and re-sell, but as it turns out, it won’t be. If you take advantage of their return policy, the customer will have to return the device within the 30 day time period after initially buying it.

So what am I to do if I want an unlocked phone?

The only way we can see that you’ll be able to get an unlocked phone is to go into AT&T and purchase the phone, sign-up for a 2-year contract, and then cancel the service and pay the early termination fee of $175. This would mean you could get a phone for about $375 and then unlock it or do whatever you choose to do with it, assuming the software will be available right away to do so.

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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