Hasta La Gadget!

News that Google had competition for a bundle of patents being sold by bankrupt Nortel Networks surfaced a week ago and now it’s official; a consortium of companies including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony won the multi-day auction with a bid of $4.5 billion. According to Reuters, RIM contributed $770 million to the effort while Ericsson is on the hook for $340 million when the deal closes, which is expected to be in the third quarter of this year. What they’ll do with the over 6,000 patents and patent applications covering everything from wireless to optical to semiconductors isn’t immediately clear, but what won’t happen is Google using them as leverage to stave off the patent trolling hordes. Before any of that happens, the sale has to clear US and Canadian courts which is why a joint hearing has been scheduled for July 11th, so expect plenty of words — and probably a few more cross licensing agreements — from the involved parties by then.

Continue reading Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion

Consortium including Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, RIM and Sony snags Nortel patents for $4.5 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day — we dig deep into each topic’s history and how it benefits our lives. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.

The world of wireless is dragging us into the 21st century kicking and screaming. Our treatise on NFC was a great sneak peek into how our future will play out over the next five years, but we’re also seeing other types of suave new tricks coming out as short-range wireless technology creeps closer to the mainstream. Wireless is the crux of convenience that will keep us calm enough to make our way through this speed-demon culture. It didn’t take long for our quest to obtain simpler and faster everything to become an obsession, and it shows no signs of stopping; on the contrary, it’s only speeding up exponentially at a rate even manufacturers have a hard time keeping up with.

Wireless charging is making some serious headway in public mindshare. Once confined to toothbrushes and other simple household items, it’s now a handy means of powering phones (HP’s Touchstone, for example) and media players, and it’ll soon be ready to charge up our notebooks and cameras at our command. Are we sure this is the future, or will this just be a passing fad? Why should it matter? Read on after the break to get the air-conditioned answers to those burning questions.

Continue reading Engadget Primed: how wireless and inductive charging works

Engadget Primed: how wireless and inductive charging works originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading G-Technology’s G-Connect offers 500GB of wireless storage, portable WiFi network to smartphone, tablet users

G-Technology’s G-Connect offers 500GB of wireless storage, portable WiFi network to smartphone, tablet users originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qi-Hardware has a bit of an obsession with free, open source, and underpowered. The latest project from this descendent of OpenMoko is a set of license free wireless boards called atben (for the company’s Ben NanoNote) and atusb for other laptops. The adapters rely on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard which powers 6LoWPAN and ZigBee. Don’t get confused though, this is not a replacement for WiFi — it’s more like long range Bluetooth (and it’s not compatible with either). Ben WPAN, as it’s being called, has a range of about ten meters in “standard” mode while pushing 250Kbps. Turning on the “non-standard” mode boosts throughput to (a still patience-testing) 2Mbps, but cuts the range in half. You can pick up pre-built adapters starting at €29.50 (about $42) for the atben, €41.30 ($59) for the atusb, or €59.00 ($84) for both at Tuxbrain. Don’t expect to just jam one into your Mac however — for now at least, Ben WPAN is a Linux only affair. (How often do you hear that?)

Qi-Hardware debuts free, open source wireless solution, not a threat to WiFi originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we first read about Deep Shot, we were admittedly dumbfounded, but equally impressed. The “technology” allows you to “capture” the current state of a website on your desktop and transfer it to a mobile device — taking a picture of a Google Map on your desktop with your smartphone camera will open the site in the same state on your phone, for example. Sounds like a pretty neat magic trick, huh? Well, it’s not. In order to use Deep Shot, you need to install an app on your mobile, computer, and any other device you plan to use it with — thus making it even less practical than Chrome to Phone.

It currently works with Google Maps and Yelp, but could theoretically be used with any site that uses URIs, or those lengthy URLs that contain search details, such as the origin and destination addresses you sent to Google Maps. You could also “transfer” a site in its “current state” by emailing the URI, or by using an app to seamlessly share it over WiFi or Bluetooth with a “send to mobile” button — which is likely what Deep Shot is doing here anyway, just with an extra step thrown into the mix. Care to visit a land where you can swim with the Loch Ness Monster and ride a pink unicorn? Head past the break for Deep Shot’s coming out video, which curiously makes no mention of the required desktop software.

Continue reading Deep Shot transfers open websites from desktop to mobile, sans wizardry

Deep Shot transfers open websites from desktop to mobile, sans wizardry originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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