Reality Bites
Worldtime Buddy is a webapp that not only displays the local time for multiple cities at once, but makes scheduling meetings world-wide easy by supplying a URL to a page showing how the meeting time will change across time zones. More »
Netflix has just gone and scooped up another big content deal for itself. The movie streaming service has tied the knot with Miramax on a multi-year agreement to allow streaming of films from the latter’s extensive library. Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Kill Bill, and hundreds of others will be added to the Netflix Watch Instantly catalog on a rotating basis, starting next month. This marks the first time Miramax flicks have been available on a digital subscription service. An agreement between these two companies was last rumored in March, with a five-year term and $100 million price being mooted as the likely parameters for getting it done. Neither outfit would disclose the cost to Netflix, but the benefit to you, dear subscriber, is pretty obvious. Full PR after the break.
Continue reading Netflix seals deal to stream Miramax movies, starting in June
Netflix seals deal to stream Miramax movies, starting in June originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 05:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’ve somehow not heard of the ThinkPad X1 yet, you join us at a good time. The well leaked laptop has shown up at an X Series comparison site, put together by Lenovo itself, where yet more specs have been made known. The 13.3-inch display is dubbed a SuperBright HD inifinity panel, which to you and us simply means it’s built using IPS technology. There’s also an integrated fingerprint reader, a buttonless touchpad, USB 3.0 connectivity, and a promised 10-hour battery life with a slice battery. Weighing in at 1.36kg (3lbs) and measuring about 16mm (0.625 inches) in thickness, it’s described as Lenovo’s thinnest ThinkPad yet. Last time we heard, we were told to expect it on May 17th, guess those webmasters are getting the show started a little early. One more glamor shot of the X1 can be found after the break.
[Thanks, Jesse]
Lenovo adds ThinkPad X1 to laptop comparison guide, outs IPS screen, USB 3.0, and optional SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 02:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sony may be busy flipping the PlayStation Network switch back to the “on” position around the globe, but one locale where it won’t be doing so just yet is its homeland of Japan. The Dow Jones newshounds report that the Japanese government refuses to allow Sony to reactivate its ailing network until satisfaction is reached on a couple of outstanding issues. The first is that the company’s promised counter-hacking measures announced on May 1st have not yet been fully enacted — though details of what has or hasn’t been done yet are understandably unavailable — and the second is that Japan wants to see further preventive measures taken to ensure users users’ credit card numbers and other private data won’t be exposed through their use of Sony’s online services again. These sound like rational demands to us, and Sony is already in talks with the authorities to make sure it lives up to their expectations.
Continue reading Japan won’t allow Sony to turn PSN back on until it’s assured it’s safe
Japan won’t allow Sony to turn PSN back on until it’s assured it’s safe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 01:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’re looking for a sleek, angular slab of an all-in-one desktop computer, Lenovo may have the machine for you, as we’ve just intercepted plans for this unannounced ThinkCentre Edge 91z, and she’s most definitely a beaut. According to the leaked PDF, Lenovo will fully reveal the 21.5-inch, 1080p desktop in just two days and ship it in June, but for now we can tell you that it can be configured with low-power Intel Core i7 processors, discrete ATI graphics and a 80GB mSATA auxiliary SSD — the latter of which Lenovo says can boot in just 20 seconds. You’ll also find HDMI output and VGA input to connect (or use the 91z as) a second screen, a “spill proof” wireless keyboard, VESA mounting options and a built-in carrying handle. Expect prices to range between $700 and $1200 when it hits the market, if these slides are correct.
[Thanks, Andrew]
Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 91z leaks out: a 21.5-inch all-in-one desktop with optional boot drive originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 May 2011 23:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Google has finally made good on their promise to deliver Chrome OS to the world this summer. Or they will, on June 15 when the first Chromebooks are available. Considering that I’m potentially the perfect type of user for such a machine — that is, nearly everything I do these days is in the browser — I’ve been very interested in the OS/product development. Last week, I got my hands on one of the first models for a bit, and I thought I’d post some initial thoughts.
Following the formal unveiling on day two of Google I/O, Samsung and Google held a joint event to further show off the hardware to a group of journalists and give us some hands-on time with one of the first Chromebooks, the Samsung Series 5. I got to play with one for about 20 minutes. And while this is far from a full review, my initial impression is that it’s good. Really good. Especially for a first crack at a product.
(I should note that the unit I tried had a beta build of Chrome OS and not the final, stable version which should be released right before June 15, Google says.)
Of course, these Chromebooks aren’t truly the first crack at the product. That was the Cr-48, a barebones notebook that Google sent to developers who signed up for a pilot program late last year. That product, quite frankly, was not very good. It had hands-down the worst trackpad I had ever used on a computing device. This improved over time (with driver updates in the OS), but the machine was still far too slow to replace a regular notebook (or even most tablets).
The Samsung Series 5 is much better.
First of all, the Samsung device seems far faster than the Cr-48. That’s a bit surprising since the specs aren’t all that different except for the fact that the Series 5 has a dual-core Intel Atom chip as opposed to the single-core one that the Cr-48 has. The RAM, SSD, etc, are the same. So apparently the chip does make the big difference.
With the Cr-48, I would continually be frustrated by the speed (or lack of speed) at which I could open new tabs. Series 5 didn’t have those issues when I tried it out. This led to a feeling much closer to using Chrome (the browser) on a Mac or PC. That is to say, fast.
Flash playback had also been a big problem with the Cr-48. On Series 5, Flash seems to work pretty well — even in HD on sites like YouTube and Hulu. Well, 720p anyway. 1080p produced quite a bit of lag, and yes, some serious undercarriage heat.
As for the trackpad, it’s also much improved. It’s not nice as nice as the glass MacBook trackpad, but it is able to track where you finger is moving in realtime (which the Cr-48 could not always do). It still feels a little cheap, but it works more or less as expected.
But the initial thing you’ll notice about the Samsung Series 5 is what a good first impression it makes. That’s because the thing starts up nearly instantaneously. Google is claiming an 8-second boot, I think it might be ever faster. Compare that to a Mac or PC which often takes several times as long (though the Macs with new SSDs are very fast as well).
Even better is that when you hit the login screen and enter your Google credentials (assuming you have them, of course), everything in synced within seconds. That means your bookmarks, passwords, and even extensions/apps hop over to the new machine seamlessly through the air. This experience was actually one of the cooler things I’ve seen in a while. Such integration will probably give a regular user that “magical” type feeling.
Also magical is the battery life. Obviously, I didn’t get a chance to fully test it out, but if the Cr-48 is any indication, the 8.5 hour stated life may be an underestimate. I wouldn’t be shocked if these things did 10 hours of continuous usages fairly easily.
The form-factor does leave a bit to be desired. Perhaps I’m spoiled by the MacBook Air, but the Series 5 feels very plastic-y and many of the ports/joints look a bit cheap and tacked-on. At 3 and a quarter pounds, it’s also heavier than the Air (both models).
Of course, that’s not really a fair comparison when the cheapest Air costs $1,000. The Series 5 will cost just $429 or $499 depending on if you get WiFi-only or WiFi/3G. (And the weight/build quality is quite a bit better than the Cr-48, so again, it’s hard to complain.)
And let’s talk about the price, because that will be very important. While the Samsung models (and the even cheaper Acer model) easily beat any Mac laptop in price, they are in line with several PC notebooks already on the market. And because these Chromebooks are stripped of many of the features people typically look for when PC shopping, it will be interesting to see how these stack up on bestbuy.com and amazon.com (where they’ll initially be sold).
Getting below the $500 threshold was crucial, but they may need models half that price if they really want them to move against cheap PC notebooks. (The monthly subscription pricing you probably read about is just meant for the education and enterprise markets.)
The sub-$500 price was aslo critical to get below the iPad. At least at first, consumers are likely going to look at Chromebooks as cheap, secondary machines, and not full-on computer replacements. Fair or not, that will run head-first into the iPad market as well. So again, the cheaper Google can make these things, the better.
The truth is that, based on my initial impression, Chromebooks are likely to be good enough to replace a full-on computer for many users. There will be reluctance at first to accept this idea simply because change is hard. But if Google can break the Windows mindset — something that will be much easier said than done — you should see users start to move over.
Make no mistake, Chromebooks are a direct attack on Microsoft. Thanks to Chrome, Google Search, Gmail, etc, Google has all the data they need to know that people spend the vast majority of their time on computers these days in the web browser. So why not just cut out the middle man? Microsoft.
These initial Chromebooks are just act one of this melodrama. But it looks to be a pretty good act one.
Google has finally made good on their promise to deliver Chrome OS to the world this summer. Or they will, on June 15 when the first Chromebooks are available. Considering that I’m potentially the perfect type of user for such a machine — that is, nearly everything I do these days is in the browser — I’ve been very interested in the OS/product development. Last week, I got my hands on one of the first models for a bit, and I thought I’d post some initial thoughts.
Following the formal unveiling on day two of Google I/O, Samsung and Google held a joint event to further show off the hardware to a group of journalists and give us some hands-on time with one of the first Chromebooks, the Samsung Series 5. I got to play with one for about 20 minutes. And while this is far from a full review, my initial impression is that it’s good. Really good. Especially for a first crack at a product.
(I should note that the unit I tried had a beta build of Chrome OS and not the final, stable version which should be released right before June 15, Google says.)
Of course, these Chromebooks aren’t truly the first crack at the product. That was the Cr-48, a barebones notebook that Google sent to developers who signed up for a pilot program late last year. That product, quite frankly, was not very good. It had hands-down the worst trackpad I had ever used on a computing device. This improved over time (with driver updates in the OS), but the machine was still far too slow to replace a regular notebook (or even most tablets).
The Samsung Series 5 is much better.
First of all, the Samsung device seems far faster than the Cr-48. That’s a bit surprising since the specs aren’t all that different except for the fact that the Series 5 has a dual-core Intel Atom chip as opposed to the single-core one that the Cr-48 has. The RAM, SSD, etc, are the same. So apparently the chip does make the big difference.
With the Cr-48, I would continually be frustrated by the speed (or lack of speed) at which I could open new tabs. Series 5 didn’t have those issues when I tried it out. This led to a feeling much closer to using Chrome (the browser) on a Mac or PC. That is to say, fast.
Flash playback had also been a big problem with the Cr-48. On Series 5, Flash seems to work pretty well — even in HD on sites like YouTube and Hulu. Well, 720p anyway. 1080p produced quite a bit of lag, and yes, some serious undercarriage heat.
As for the trackpad, it’s also much improved. It’s not nice as nice as the glass MacBook trackpad, but it is able to track where you finger is moving in realtime (which the Cr-48 could not always do). It still feels a little cheap, but it works more or less as expected.
But the initial thing you’ll notice about the Samsung Series 5 is what a good first impression it makes. That’s because the thing starts up nearly instantaneously. Google is claiming an 8-second boot, I think it might be ever faster. Compare that to a Mac or PC which often takes several times as long (though the Macs with new SSDs are very fast as well).
Even better is that when you hit the login screen and enter your Google credentials (assuming you have them, of course), everything in synced within seconds. That means your bookmarks, passwords, and even extensions/apps hop over to the new machine seamlessly through the air. This experience was actually one of the cooler things I’ve seen in a while. Such integration will probably give a regular user that “magical” type feeling.
Also magical is the battery life. Obviously, I didn’t get a chance to fully test it out, but if the Cr-48 is any indication, the 8.5 hour stated life may be an underestimate. I wouldn’t be shocked if these things did 10 hours of continuous usages fairly easily.
The form-factor does leave a bit to be desired. Perhaps I’m spoiled by the MacBook Air, but the Series 5 feels very plastic-y and many of the ports/joints look a bit cheap and tacked-on. At 3 and a quarter pounds, it’s also heavier than the Air (both models).
Of course, that’s not really a fair comparison when the cheapest Air costs $1,000. The Series 5 will cost just $429 or $499 depending on if you get WiFi-only or WiFi/3G. (And the weight/build quality is quite a bit better than the Cr-48, so again, it’s hard to complain.)
And let’s talk about the price, because that will be very important. While the Samsung models (and the even cheaper Acer model) easily beat any Mac laptop in price, they are in line with several PC notebooks already on the market. And because these Chromebooks are stripped of many of the features people typically look for when PC shopping, it will be interesting to see how these stack up on bestbuy.com and amazon.com (where they’ll initially be sold).
Getting below the $500 threshold was crucial, but they may need models half that price if they really want them to move against cheap PC notebooks. (The monthly subscription pricing you probably read about is just meant for the education and enterprise markets.)
The sub-$500 price was aslo critical to get below the iPad. At least at first, consumers are likely going to look at Chromebooks as cheap, secondary machines, and not full-on computer replacements. Fair or not, that will run head-first into the iPad market as well. So again, the cheaper Google can make these things, the better.
The truth is that, based on my initial impression, Chromebooks are likely to be good enough to replace a full-on computer for many users. There will be reluctance at first to accept this idea simply because change is hard. But if Google can break the Windows mindset — something that will be much easier said than done — you should see users start to move over.
Make no mistake, Chromebooks are a direct attack on Microsoft. Thanks to Chrome, Google Search, Gmail, etc, Google has all the data they need to know that people spend the vast majority of their time on computers these days in the web browser. So why not just cut out the middle man? Microsoft.
These initial Chromebooks are just act one of this melodrama. But it looks to be a pretty good act one.
Derek Boogaard’s death on Friday may lead to future advancements in medicine. The family of the New York Rangers forward has donated his brain to Boston University Medical School as part of its ongoing study into head trauma among athletes.
It won’t have escaped your attention that just about every Honeycomb tablet shipping in the first half of this year features, or will feature, NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 hardware. Unfortunately for NVIDIA, reception for the Android 3.0 slates has been a little underwhelming, and the company’s Chief Eloquence Officer, Jen-Hsun Huang, has had a few words to say about it. He sees the relative paucity of tablet-optimized Android apps as a weakness, while also expressing the belief that cheaper WiFi-only models should’ve been the standard shipping config rather than fully fledged 3G / 4G variants as Motorola has been pushing with the Xoom. All in all, his is a very sane and accurate analysis, but Mr. Huang loves to look to the future as much as he enjoys talking about the present, and in his opinion all these major downsides have already been “largely addressed” by “a new wave” of Android tablets. He doesn’t specify the devices that constitute said wave, but his emphasis on thinness and lightness leads us to believe he’s talking up Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 models. Hit the source links to read more from the bronzed stallion in charge of NVIDIA.
NVIDIA CEO disappointed by Android tablet sales, blames pricing and poor app selection originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 May 2011 20:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Windows Phone 7 ‘Mango’ to bring Office 365, Facebook Chat, more Xbox Live integration? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 May 2011 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In this week’s app roundup: Netflix, droided; Instant Messages, beautified; data caps, eliminated; Super 8 Cameras, re-introduced; music, sent to space; Photoshop, appified; trending topics, explained; Pictures, tagged and much, much more. More »
If you’re the proud owner of a Motorola Xoom, you will get Android 3.1, but we’re afraid the timing and features included in that update may depend on where you reside and which one you bought. For instance, while both Verizon 3G and WiFi-only Xooms in the United States are seeing the latest Honeycomb slowly trickle in right now, Motorola says that the WiFi version won’t have movie rentals available immediately after the update. What’s more, though the new hotness doesn’t seem to bring microSD card support to US devices, Motorola says that Canadian models will get that exact functionality “soon.” What if you don’t live in North America at all? We’re afraid we can’t tell you.
WiFi-only Motorola Xoom won’t have Movies right away, Canadian Xooms getting SD support someday originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 May 2011 16:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Droid-Life, Android Central | Motorola Forums, Motorola Canada (Facebook) | Email this | Comments
For something so simple and easy to make, a good hamburger can be difficult to find. Thankfully, the trick to grilling a delicious and perfectly cooked hamburger isn’t a mystery. Keep these tips in mind, and your backyard barbeques will yield tastier results. More »
Odeleite River, Portugal. Photo by Steve Richards.
We found the BlackBerry PlayBook to be a pretty solid piece of hardware, but it seems there was a problem batch — an inside source tells us that nearly 1,000 faulty tablets were shipped to Staples, and now they’re being recalled. We’re hoping that Staples (and any other affected retailers) will reach out to customers and inform them of the problem right away, but just in case that doesn’t happen, we’ve compiled a searchable spreadsheet of all 935 alleged serial numbers for you to check against your own. Find it right after the break.
Update: RIM tells Crackberry that the faulty batch of the 16GB tablets was indeed limited to the approximately 1,000 units described here, and that they had a faulty build of the OS “that may result in the devices being unable to properly load software upon initial set-up.” Furthermore, the company says that only a few went out to customers and that most are still in distribution, so with any luck you’ll never have to deal with this problem to begin with.
Continue reading RIM recalls 900 faulty BlackBerry PlayBooks, here are the serial numbers (update)
RIM recalls 900 faulty BlackBerry PlayBooks, here are the serial numbers (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 21:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ladies and gentlemen, your PS3 may technically be able to connect to PlayStation Network now, but we’re not through the woods yet — today, Sony is issuing a mandatory System Update (v3.61) which will prepare your game machine for that magical day when the company actually throws the switch. In the meanwhile, Sony says the update will prompt you to change your PlayStation Network password, which will likely rank among the easiest decisions that you’ve ever made.
Update: Sony’s just announced that a “phased restoration” of PlayStation Network and Qriocity is beginning today, and that online gaming, Music Unlimited, Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and MLB.TV should rolling out right now in Europe and North America. Watch cool cat Kaz Hirai deliver the good news in a video after the break.
Update 2: Sony’s got a map of the US up, and will be lighting up individual states — check out our more coverage link to get a rough idea of when you’ll be able to play. The company also says it plans to have PlayStation Network fully functional by the end of May. PR after the break.
Update 3: The restoration is beginning now: we’re seeing Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and California. And would you look at that, the southeast just got its due: Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina have PSN too… and as of 10:18PM PST, you can add Delaware, Pennsylvania, both Virginias, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan to that list.
Update 4: Annnnnd we should all be back. Sleep well, PSN users. By the way, Sony Online Entertainment (the MMO division) has a list of the free goodies you’ll get for your inconvenience — read it at the link below.
Update 5: Sony just flipped the international switch — PSN’s rolling out across the world.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
PlayStation 3 system update 3.61 available now, ‘phased restoration’ of PSN begins today (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Joystiq | PlayStation.Blog | Email this | Comments
It may be weeks before authorities know exactly how and why New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard died.
