Hasta La Gadget!

Barnes & Noble told us this update was in the pipeline when it introduced Nook for Android, and sure enough, said update is hitting the intertubes this fine morning. The iPhone and iPod touch version of the Nook app is said to be completely overhauled, while the iPad edition is the company’s first to offer an in-app “rating” feature. In case you couldn’t guess, the former also adds support for the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, while also tossing in a slew of new customization options (themes, day / night content options, line spacing, font styles, preferred justification, previews, etc.). Finally, today also marks the reintroduction of the Nook for PC client, though it seems that most of the fanciful new features are reserved for the more portable versions. Hop on past the break for the full skinny, and tap that source link to get to downloadin’.

Continue reading Nook for iPhone, iPad and PC see updates, slew of new features in tow

Nook for iPhone, iPad and PC see updates, slew of new features in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Wayne, who quite obviously needs a recommendation on a new all-in-one PC before hitting the books for the fall semester. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“Hi. I’m about to be crammed into a dorm room for a few years, and I need a decent all-in-one PC for my desk. Space is an issue, but anything from 20- to 23-inches would work. Mac or PC is fine for the stuff I’ll be doing, but I’d like to keep it all under $1,500 if possible. Any strong recommendations from other students who were / are in a similar situation?”

So, froshies — what’s it gonna be? He didn’t mention the need for a touch panel, so you can obviously whittle down your choices somewhat. Anyone have a particular AIO that has treated them to straight As? Let us (and Wayne) know in comments below.

Ask Engadget: best all-in-one PC for dorm room life? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 22:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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So shall it be written, so shall it be done. The Mac Pro has at long last proven rumors of its impending refresh accurate, as Apple has just updated its most powerful hardware with even more grunt. As we’d heard previously, that means you can now get dual-CPU rigs that offer a full dozen cores to play with, courtesy of Intel’s Xeon server-class chips, though in order to get in on that game you’ll have to splash a cool $4,999 entry fee. The quad-core starting price is still $2,499, though the eight-core machines have jumped up to $3,499, with both variants getting mild speed bumps to 2.8GHz and 2.4GHz, respectively.

Perhaps the most welcome upgrade is on the graphical front, where the Radeon HD 5770 takes up the mantle of default GPU, with additional options for a pair of such cards or a step up to a 1GB HD 5870 alternative if you’re keen on maxing out those frame rates. Memory isn’t neglected either, with choices ranging all the way up to 32GB of RAM, 4TB of conventional HDD storage, or an array of four 512GB SSDs — though you’re probably better off not asking how much that last one will set you back. The comprehensive specs can be found in the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999

Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t decide if this is a Smart idea or a Stupid idea in the grand scheme of things, but we love it just the same. Humane PC and its Humane Reader child are open source hardware projects with some seriously low-cost internal components. At volume the PC could retail for as low as $20, and that’s with 2GB of microSD storage, USB / PS/2 plugs, and video out. The PC is primarily designed to output low-res, black and white text to a TV, making it a low cost reader for developing countries, and the Humane Reader project pre-loads the device with thousands of Wikipedia articles (much in the vein of the OpenMoko WikiReader). Of course, the Humane PC itself is imminently hackable, and we probably haven’t seen the full extent of this sucker’s functionality just yet. The project is currently seeking a partner to deploy some prototypes.

Humane Reader is a $20 8-bit PC for TVs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We never felt like the thing holding the IdeaCentre A300 back was its CPU, but that hasn’t stopped Lenovo from tacking an extra 10 onto the product number and a modern Core i3-350M inside. The 2.26GHz chip is a dual-core mobile affair, built on Intel’s famed 32nm process, and offers an integrated 45nm graphics processor just for kicks as well. For this newfound privilege, Japanese buyers will be expected to pony up ¥109,000 ($1,243) when the A310 becomes available on July 17. Bear in mind that includes a bundled external DVD rewriter, the lack of which was one of our bigger disappointments with this otherwise gorgeous 21.5-inch all-in-one family — now if Lenovo could only offer a version with a matte screen, we might even care enough to buy one.

Lenovo IdeaCentre A310 slips into something a little more Corefortable originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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