Apr 09

PS3 owners eligible for cash refund after ‘Other OS’ removal?

Posted in: amazon, europe, hack, legal, Linux, money, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, uk

Admit it, most of you don’t use the “Other OS” option on your PS3, do you? That’s ok, we don’t either, at least not regularly. Nevertheless, it’s irksome, nay, vexing that Sony had the audacity to pull it; that feature was part of the deal bargained when we purchased the unit after all. Forum moderator, “lapetus,” over at NeoGAF decided to take on the man by invoking European directive 1999/44/EC, a consumer protection law that requires goods to be “fit for the purpose which the consumer requires them and which was made known to the seller at the time of purchase.” That little tactic earned lapetus a refund of £84.00 from Amazon without physically returning the console even though his (?) PS3 was well out of warranty. Oh just you never mind that Sony’s user agreement claims the ability to revise settings and features without limitation to, “prevent access to unauthorized or pirated content, or use of unauthorized hardware or software in connection with the PS3 system.” In other words, request your refund before installing Geohot’s hacked 3.21 firmware.

PS3 owners eligible for cash refund after ‘Other OS’ removal? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GamesIndustry.biz  |  sourcePlayStation University  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Apr 05

Fusion Garage JooJoo review

Posted in: flash, Linux, review, tablet, Today's Chili, video

We’re not sure what’s harder to believe: the fact that after months and months of the soap-opera-like drama that the JooJoo (formerly known as the CrunchPad) has finally landed in our hands, or that within just a few days there are now two capacitive touchscreen, browsing-heavy slate tablets on the market. Sure, it’s probably not the best timing for a tablet start-up, but that doesn’t diminish our interest in the 12-inch, Flash-playing JooJoo. The JooJoo is meant to be a browser-based tablet for surfing the web on your couch or while traveling, but with little previous hands-on time, we’re still wondering how well it’ll really work. And, obviously, whether or not it’s a $499 experience on par or superior to Apple’s iPad. Fear not, we’ll tell you all you want to know in our magical review after the break.

Gallery: Fusion Garage JooJoo review

Continue reading Fusion Garage JooJoo review

Fusion Garage JooJoo review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Apr 05

Adobe AIR developer demonstration: one game, five platforms, all the same code

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, apple ipad, AppleIpad, AppleIphone, droid, ipad, iPhone, Linux, Mac, os x, OsX, Software, Today's Chili, ubuntu, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

We love the idea of Android apps running on iPhone and vice versa, and that’s exactly what Adobe’s selling with its multiplatform development solution AIR — but though we’ve seen a demo here and there, conversations we’ve had with the company led us to believe that AIR was not yet up to the task. However, Adobe dev Christian Cantrell has the proof — he created a game of Reversi that runs on five platforms without having to change a single line of code. In a video after the break, he demonstrates iReverse running on OS X, Windows 7, Ubuntu Linux, the iPhone, a Droid and the new iPad, explaining how it took only a series of seriously tiny platform-specific wrappers to make his program function on each. Since each platform has its own hardware strengths, this kind of convergence isn’t always a good thing — but if it provides extra incentive for developers to get cracking on hot new apps, we’re all for it.

Continue reading Adobe AIR developer demonstration: one game, five platforms, all the same code

Adobe AIR developer demonstration: one game, five platforms, all the same code originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Recombu  |  sourceChristian Cantrell  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 31

PS3 firmware 3.21 is out: say goodbye to ‘install other OS’

Posted in: firmware, hack, Hacks, Linux, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, security, sony, Today's Chili

Just a tad ahead of schedules — perhaps as a macabre assurance this isn’t some April 1st joke — firmware 3.21 for the PS3 is now being seeded to anyone who tries to log onto the PlayStation Network. As far as we can tell, all the update seems to do is remove the “install other OS” option and kill access to anyone who does have another platform dual-booted. Just a friendly reminder, if you fall into that category, be sure to either backup your partition or wait for Geohot to find a workaround.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

PS3 firmware 3.21 is out: say goodbye to ‘install other OS’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Mar 31

Wireless-N shocker! Cisco announces E-Series line of home routers

Posted in: cisco, Linux, router, Today's Chili, wifi
If we know you, you’re about ready to bathe your place of residence in some of those 802.11n waves you’ve been hearing so much about. Well, you’re in luck — the cats at Cisco have announces the Linksys E-Series line of routers for your home, flat, or small business. All of these bad boys feature the all new Cisco Connect software (with exhaustive parental control and a separate password-protected guest network). Priced between $80 and $180, select models include Gigabit Ethernet, UPnP AV Media Server, external storage via USB, Linux, and more. Available now at Amazon, Staples, and Linksys. For the whole sordid tale, peep the PR after the break.

Continue reading Wireless-N shocker! Cisco announces E-Series line of home routers

Wireless-N shocker! Cisco announces E-Series line of home routers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceLinksys  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Mar 29

Geohot advises against updating PS3, will find ‘safe way’ around losing OS support

Posted in: firmware, hack, Hacks, Linux, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

In case you hadn’t heard, there’s a PlayStation 3 firmware update coming this Thursday that’d knock out the “install other OS” option and remove any currently-installed non-PS3 platform. Our guess is it’s not going to affect the majority of owners, but the diehard users are certainly up in arms, and no one really likes losing a feature, even if it’s rarely used. Leave it to Geohot, then, to right the wrong. Arguably the reason for Sony’s reversal (see: PS3 exploit), the famed hacker has published not only a letter of sorrow at the company (unsurprising), but also a call for users not to update. Instead, he claims he will “look into a safe way of updating to retain OtherOS support” and issued a tech-savvy threat about “touching the CFW,” much to the company’s chagrin (trust us, you don’t even want to know what he’s talking about here — far too scary). We wouldn’t normally say a war’s brewing, but ol’ George Hotz has proven himself more than capable at starting something fierce.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Geohot advises against updating PS3, will find ‘safe way’ around losing OS support originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGeohot (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Mar 28

Older PS3s losing ‘install other OS’ option in Thursday’s firmware 3.21 update

Posted in: firmware, Linux, operating system, OperatingSystem, os, playstation, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

Bad news, Linux fans. The older PlayStation 3 consoles are losing one of the features they could tout over their Slim successor. Firmware 3.21 is coming out this Thursday, April 1st, and its major raison d’être is to kill the “install other OS” option. (This is “not an April fools joke,” as the PlayStation Europe blog clarifies.) “Security concerns” is the cited reason, although we’re sure that doesn’t make you feel much better — no one likes the loss of a feature, even if it wasn’t being used. Those who wish to keep Yellow Dog or Fedora running can opt to not upgrade, but skipping out means losing the ability to access PlayStation Network and play games online, among other things. DARPA enthusiasts notwithstanding, we can’t say we know many people still running Linux on their console, but if you count yourself among the few and proud, our condolences. Them’s the breaks, but hey, at least some of you still have PS2 compatibility.

Older PS3s losing ‘install other OS’ option in Thursday’s firmware 3.21 update originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcePS Blog (US), (EU)  | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Mar 25

OpenPeak’s OpenTablet 7 hands-on: Moorestown has found a friend

Posted in: ctia, flash, hands-on, Linux, tablet, Today's Chili

We’ve been hearing of OpenPeak devices for years, but the company is a little camera shy — particularly because most of their products, like the Verizon Hub and O2 Joggler, are re-branded by carriers. However, the company seems to be getting behind its recently announced OpenTablet 7 in a big way, recently announcing a partnership with AT&T for data plans in the US. Neither party will confirm exact plan pricing, but we’re getting the vibe that it will be “familiar” to folks who’ve seen iPad data pricing. The device itself is surprisingly well built — not at all one of these dime-a-tablet jobs — and the software is rather mature as well. OpenPeak claims to have “thousands of apps” for its platform that stretches across devices including phones, frames, and now a tablet, with a Linux-based platform with a Flash layer on top.

Refreshingly for the tablet space, the UI isn’t a bit laggy, and seems pretty far along, though we’re promised even more polish as this thing nears market. We didn’t check out a browser, and some elements like the touchscreen keyboard are pretty dismal, but for home automation or video conferencing (the device packs a 1080p front-facing camera and a 5 megapixel shooter around back), it seems like OpenPeak can carve a niche for itself on the market. Most of all, we’re impressed with the 1.9GHz Moorestown chip under the hood, which offers huge power savings over Atom; plenty of juice for some media rich apps, UI elements, and video; and even runs cool to the touch. An included docking station offers charging and port replication, but there’s also an HDMI plug built right into the bottom of the tablet, along with removable microSD up top. No word on when exactly this will hit the market this year, how much it’ll cost, or if it’ll be rebranded by AT&T. Check out a video hands-on after the break, and a quick note on the press shots below: apps are subject to change based on the rebadger’s own partnerships.

Gallery: OpenPeak’s OpenTablet 7 hands-on

Gallery: OpenPeak’s OpenTablet 7 press shots

Continue reading OpenPeak’s OpenTablet 7 hands-on: Moorestown has found a friend

OpenPeak’s OpenTablet 7 hands-on: Moorestown has found a friend originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Mar 09

Is Amazon hiring devs to build a robust web browser for Kindle?

Posted in: amazon, amazon kindle, AmazonKindle, e reader, e-book reader, E-bookReader, kindle, Linux, Today's Chili, web browser, WebBrowser
Are you a software dev with a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, familiarity with current Web standards, and experience with browser engines, Linux on embedded devices, and Java? If so, do we have the job for you. Lab126, the group at Amazon responsible for the Kindle, wants you to help “conceive, design, and bring to market” a new embedded browser on a Linux device. Might this be a sign that the company is ready to start taking web browsing on the e-reader seriously? We don’t know, but it sure sparked some interesting discussion over at All Things Digital. As Peter Kafka points out, a decent browser for the thing is pretty much a no-brainer in light of the Apple iPad. On the other hand, the idea of a robust browser on the Kindle has its own complications. What about subscription content like the New York Times — why would anyone pay for something that’s available for free on the web, if you’re using the same device to view both? And what about all that new data traffic? Surely AT&T will have something to say about that. Of course, we’ve been hearing enough scuttlebutt about a mysterious next-gen device being developed at Amazon that perhaps this has nothing to do with the Kindle whatsoever. Who knows? These are all questions that will have to be answered sooner or later, but in the meantime we can say with some certainty that E ink is definitely not the best way to troll 4chan.

Is Amazon hiring devs to build a robust web browser for Kindle? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Things Digital  |  sourceAmazon  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 09

Newegg selling ASUS Eee Box with Red Flag Linux pre-installed

Posted in: ASUS, Linux, Today's Chili
Well, Newegg just seems to be full of surprises these days. The latest example is this ASUS Eee Box (model EBXB202-BLK-E0037), which wouldn’t be so remarkable if not for the fact that it comes pre-installed with the Chinese Linux distribution, Red Flag Linux. That helps bring the price down to just $189.99 after rebate, which also gets you the usual Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and the standard Intel integrated graphics. No word on the whole back story here, but it looks like this may well be the only readily available Red Flag Linux-based system available in the US right now.

[Thanks, Michael]

Newegg selling ASUS Eee Box with Red Flag Linux pre-installed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNewegg  | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: