Hasta La Gadget!

An explosion occurred at Foxconn’s Chengdu plant earlier today, with reports claiming several workers have been injured. The Taiwanese company has yet to release a statement regarding figures and the cause of this tragedy, but according to 21st Century Business Herald, witnesses saw lightning hit the A05 building before the explosion took place — it is believed that this is a case of dust explosion, and security guards were allegedly warning evacuees that the smoke was toxic. At the time, hundreds of workers were present in the affected workshop which houses an iPad 2 assembly line. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.

Update: Sina Tech is reporting two deaths and sixteen injured people, with three in critical condition. We’ve also added a video from the scene after the break, courtesy of Sohu.

Update 2: Apple has provided a statement to All Things D, saying:

We are deeply saddened by the tragedy at Foxconn’s plant in Chengdu, and our hearts go out to the victims and their families… We are working closely with Foxconn to understand what caused this terrible event.

Continue reading Explosion at Foxconn’s Chengdu plant kills two

Explosion at Foxconn’s Chengdu plant kills two originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Microsoft shutters Pioneer Studios, we pour one out for J Allard

Microsoft shutters Pioneer Studios, we pour one out for J Allard originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 05:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The 16GB-equipped, 7-inch Flyer from HTC is making its way west this week. Best Buy, which gets the honor of exclusively launching the WiFi-only Android tablet in the US, has revealed Sunday as the official first day of availability for the Flyer, at a price of $500. As you’ll recall, the stylus that ships in the retail box just about everywhere else will be markedly missing from the Best Buy bundle, costing an extra $80 to those who simply must have it. You’ll be able to purchase your Flyer online and at all brick-and-mortar Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores, but if mobile connectivity is more important to you, we’d advise holding out a little while longer for the 3G- and 4G-capable Evo View variety on Sprint.

HTC Flyer lands at Best Buy on May 22nd for $500, Magic Pen sold separately originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 02:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NEC caught our attention at CES with a dual-screen Android tablet / e-reader that, at the time, it was calling the LT-W Cloud Communicator. Well, it’s since been rebranded the LifeTouch W and it will officially hit shelves in Japan this June. Under the hood nothing has changed — it’s the same pair of 7-inch, 800 x 600 resistive touchscreens, 384MB of RAM, and Cortex A8 CPU of unspecified speed we played with in January. Sadly, that also means we’re looking at the same dated Android 2.2 OS and paltry five hour battery life. No word on cost or whether this will ever appear outside of Japan, but we’d be surprised if this ugly stepsister of the Kno actually makes its way across the Pacific.

NEC’s dual-screen LifeTouch W tablet shipping in Japan this June originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 15:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android Honeycomb OS, 10-inch screen size with 1280 x 800 resolution, and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 (T20) chip on the inside. If those specs sound familiar, it’s because most manufacturers already have a tablet just like Dell’s upcoming Streak Pro. This slate from Round Rock got us a little hot under the collar recently, when it appeared it would ship with the T25 Tegra 2 silicon — which runs at 1.2GHz and offers 3D support — but nope, it’s same old, same old from Michael and company. Still, the Streak Pro will apparently come will a brushed aluminum back, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB storage options, dual mics, dual cameras (2 megapixel on the front, 5 megapixel ’round back), and a choice of four colors: blue, pink, black, and red. If that’s not enough customization for you, Dell’s also adding its Stage UI atop Android, while support for AT&T’s LTE network is also said to be under consideration. You can see some of the new tablet’s accessories at the source link below, which also advises us to expect the Streak to go Pro in June, as previously anticipated.

Dell Streak Pro Honeycomb tablet pictured, likely to be with us in June originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 03:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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