Hasta La Gadget!

The iPhone can do many things, but “hypnotize passers-by with a dazzling array of colors” is not typically listed among its strong suits. That’s where the iGlo LED Set comes into play, bundling a WiFi-enabled strip of 120 multi-color LEDs — measuring some five meters in length — with iPhone and iPad apps that can control them. $299 is a small price to pay for this kind of portable party-making power, considering you just spent that much on a bottle of Blue Label for Steve’s birthday party last week… and that didn’t turn you into the most popular guy in the room. Follow the break for a full demo.

Continue reading iPhone-controllable LED strip lets you take the rave with you for $300

iPhone-controllable LED strip lets you take the rave with you for $300 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Straight from Sony’s Google TV unveiling in New York we finally know the official details of its plans, which include four HDTVs (24-, 32- , 40- and 46-inch) with prices from $599 to $1,399, plus a funky white set-top box with built-in Blu-ray player for $399. The 24-inch is a CCFL backlit LCD, while the larger models all feature edge LED lighting, while all of them feature built in WiFi, so no need to go stringing any new network cables to the living room. The only custom app we’re seeing among the preinstalled ones (Netflix, CNBC, Napster, Pandora and more) is a Sony Qriocity VOD player, for more you’ll be waiting for the Android Market to hit in early 2011. If you want to be the first on your block with one, hit up the local Sony Style outlet when they go on sale this weekend, or Best Buy stores starting October 24, meanwhile, check the press release after the break for full specs and details.

Continue reading Sony Google TV HDTVs and Blu-ray player launch details revealed

Sony Google TV HDTVs and Blu-ray player launch details revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The lure of “Free Public Wi-Fi” may well be the biggest tease in modern technology–well, at least this side of Duke Nukem Forever. You sit down with your netbook in a park or an airport or other public place, log on, and find yourself downright giddy the discovery of “Free Public Wi-Fi” amongst the list of available wireless networks.

You attempt to log on, only to find it impossible. And you know what, you probably fall for the trick every single time.

So, what exactly is “Free Public Wi-Fi?” An international networking conspiracy? So sick joke on the part of those who control our airwaves? Nope. Turns out that it’s a flaw in Windows XP.

Says Slashdot,

Apparently, the way XP works is that if it can’t find a ‘favorite’ WiFi hotspot, it automatically sets up the computer to broadcast itself as an ad hoc network point, using the name of the last connection the computer attempted. So… people see ‘Free Public WiFi’ and they try to log on. Then their own computer starts broadcasting the same thing, because it can’t find a network it knows. And, like a virus, the ‘Free Public WiFi’ that doesn’t work lives on and on and on

Yep. Windows XP is like “like a virus.” Harsh? Perhaps. But only a little.

Eschewing the femtocells that most of its competitors have embraced, T-Mobile USA has long touted WiFi calling as the answer for augmenting its cellular network — problem is, they’ve generally done a poor job of rolling it out to a wide variety of handsets. Notably absent from the compatibility list so far, Android is finally being welcomed to the club today — as rumored — with the recently-announced myTouch and Motorola Defy among the first models to nab the feature. Though availability on currently-sold phones hasn’t been announced, T-Mobile does say that WiFi calling is “anticipated to be available on a growing selection of T-Mobile’s Android-powered smartphones in the coming months,” so we’ll go on record hoping we see a few upgrades in the works (G2, we’re looking straight at you). Follow the break for the carrier’s full press release.

Continue reading T-Mobile finally brings Android into the WiFi calling game

T-Mobile finally brings Android into the WiFi calling game originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Careful, gamers on the go: your next handheld might be a hotspot hunter. Along with the “tag mode” Nintendo revealed earlier this week, where the 3DS can seek out other similarly depth-endowed handhelds and exchange information automatically, comes a system called SpotPass, which enables connecting to any open hotspots — even while sleeping like a baby. The purpose was ostensibly for passive downloading of game content and the like but, according to Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata, the company is pondering lumping automatic firmware updates into the mix. This would mean the 3DS would re-flash itself even while in suspended animation, in theory keeping software pirates and firmware buccaneers on their toes. As serious gamers who only purchase legal software (twice, just to be safe) this seems like a reasonable enough thing to do — assuming we don’t get any bogus firmware sneaking onto our $300 handhelds.

Nintendo 3DS might update itself over WiFi, still won’t cook you breakfast originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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