Reality Bites
Our favorite personal money management site, Mint, began its international expansion today by making its service available to those in Canada. The Canadian version is the same as the US version, apart from its ability to connect to Canadian banks as well as US banks. Canadians can access Mint by hitting the link below. Other countries are still forthcoming, but we hope to see support for international banks soon. [Mint Canada] More »
The headline pretty much reveals the brunt of it, but indeed, it looks like next week Google is going to start talking about how its Chrome operating system is coming along. Multiple sources have told us that Google will be holding some sort of event on Tuesday, December 7th — we’re not sure if it’ll be a live event, a webcast, or something else entirely — and that the shindig will see the launch of that Google-branded Chrome OS netbook we’ve been hearing about. Again, we’ve heard that the Atom-powered laptop isn’t going to be a mass market device — there will only be around 65,000 units available to Google’s closest “friends and family” — and that the Cloud-based OS is still very much in a beta, non-consumer-friendly state. It’s a bit odd that we still haven’t received an invite to this planned event since it’s purportedly days away, not to mention it conflicts with the All Things D: Dive Into Mobile Event, but at the time of publishing this post we had yet to hear back from Google’s PR team with an official comment.
Of course, this all lines up with TechCrunch‘s report that Google will be launching its Chrome Web / App Store very soon, as well as yesterday’s launch of Chrome 8, which supports those aforementioned Chrome apps. (Companies like TweetDeck have already started demoing their browser apps.) Don’t forget that those apps are going to be a large part of the OS, so it would make sense for Google to talk about ’em in tandem. The pieces sure do seem to be fitting together quite well, and while we still have lots of unanswered questions, we’re feeling confident that we’ll be getting some official answers on all this Chrome-ness very soon.
Update: AllThingsD has also heard a similar December 7th launch date of the Chrome Web Store. The evidence seems to be mounting here…
Update 2: Well, there you have it, Google just sent out invites for its December 7th Chrome event! We will be there!
Image note: As we said last time, that picture above is just our own mockup of what a Chromebook may look like. We even added a Chrome key!
Sources: Google-branded Chrome OS netbook to launch on December 7th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Wondering just how well a tablet would do if picked up and marketed by all four major carriers in America? We’re still waiting for the breakdown within our borders, but there’s hardly a doubt that the unprecedented carrier arrangement has helped Samsung shatter its estimates on Galaxy Tab sales. Purportedly, the outfit has just passed the one million mark in global sales of the 7-inch Android tablet, but Information Week is quick to point out that Sammy’s not clear on whether that’s units in the sales channel or units in the hands of consumers. Either way, one million’s nothing to scoff at, particularly when you consider that only 600,000 had been sold as of November 22nd. The firm’s now hoping to move 1.5 million of ’em by the year’s end, and while that’s still well short of the estimated seven million iPads that have been sold to date, it’s a sales rate that we’re sure no one at Samsung is kvetching about.
Update: CNET heard from a Samsung representative that the company hasn’t officially announced the sales figure here, but hopefully we’ll get some clarification soon. It’s possible that the PR team simply isn’t ready to dish out the number in official fashion yet. We’ll keep you posted.
Update II: So, it’s just what we expected — the numbers are real, but Samsung wasn’t quite ready to come clean with ’em. According to Kim Titus, Director of Public Relations for Samsung Mobile, the company has “sold one million Galaxy Tabs globally.” Good on ’em!
Samsung sells one million Galaxy Tab units (update: confirmed) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
Android Community | 
The Chosun Ilbo, Information Week | Email this | Comments
In the proud tradition of Fringe, tonight's new episode answered some huge questions — and posed some even bigger new ones. Chief among them: Just how much of this war between universes is in one man's head? Spoilers below… More »
Ken Miller is stepping down as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders but will continue to have a role with the team.
The year 2010 is expected to be one of the three warmest years worldwide since the collection of reliable climate data began – and Canada’s on track to record its hottest year yet.
You’ve always been able to hack a YouTube URL to link to a specific time, but now all it takes is a right click. More »
If you were hoping NASA was going to announce the very first tweet from an extraterrestrial being, sorry to break your heart — it is astrobiological, but the findings are actually borne of this rock. Researchers in Mono Lake, California, have discovered a microorganism (pictured) that uses arsenic instead of phosphorous to thrive and reproduce. The latter, as far as terrestrial life is concerned, is a building block of life along with carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, all integral to our DNA and RNA. Arsenic, meanwhile, is generally considered poisonous — but “chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate,” apparently making for a good substitution. In other words, NASA’s proven that life can be made with components different than our current assumptions, both locally and beyond the stars. Seems entirely logical, if you ask us. (A silicon-based Horta, Mr. Spock?)
So, what about other atypical life-forming chemicals? NASA isn’t speculating. That sound you hear is a thousand light bulbs popping up as science fiction writers everywhere conjure up brand new super villains — and a thousand Chemistry professors writing new extra credit questions for their fall semester finals.
NASA reveals arsenic-bred organisms, search for life gets broader parameters originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | NASA | Email this | Comments
Google is now allowing viewers to skip the commercials that play before YouTube videos. The new ad system, dubbed TrueView, has been in testing for some time, but the format saw a wider roll-out today. When a TrueView ad begins playing, you’ll see a counter at the top of the video window. After five seconds, you’ll be able to skip the rest of the ad if you so choose.
Surprisingly, advertisers seem okay with the new system, partially because they’re only charged for advertisements if viewers don’t click the skip button. That could potentially save the companies money, but it also means (presumably) that viewers who actually sit through the commercials are more interested in whatever services or products are being offered. Most importantly, though, it means less obnoxious, unwanted advertising for the viewer.
YouTube Now Allows Viewers to Skip Commercials originally appeared on Switched on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
![Click here to read Police Spend All Day Investigating "Murder Scene" That Was Really a Movie Set](http://cache-02.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/12/160x120_hotelinvestigation.jpg "Click here to read Police Spend All Day Investigating "Murder Scene" That Was Really a Movie Set")
Washington, PA Police Chief J.R. Blyth described it as “the most grisly murder scene in his 35 years in law enforcement.” Blood splattered everywhere, a bit of scalp. It took his team hours to realize it was all fake. More »
From the files of the Acquisition Totally Makes Sense Dept.: Universal password manager LastPass, maker of our favorite any-browser-anywhere security solution, is acquiring Xmarks, the bookmark syncing tool that was scheduled to shut down in January 2011 from lack of revenue, but then bought and saved (the unnamed buyer, whom we now know). The key figures for subscribers? The free plan sticks around, but a premium plan, with Android/iPhone apps and priority support, will go for $12 per year, and you can bundle LastPass Premium into that deal for $20 a year. Intrigued? Go ahead and check out the upgrade to Xmarks premium. [Xmarks Blog via BoomTown] More »
NASA has discovered a new life form, a bacteria called GFAJ-1 that is unlike anything currently living in planet Earth. It’s capable of using arsenic to build its DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes. This changes everything. Updated. More »
(PhysOrg.com) — A joint project by universities in Algeria and Japan is planning to turn the Sahara desert, the largest desert in the world, into a breeding ground for solar power plants that could supply half the worlds electrical energy requirements by 2050.
This is not a joke, in fact it’s quite official. Research In Motion has just confirmed the acquisition of Swedish UI design company TAT, which will soon be “bringing their talent to the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms.” You’ll be familiar with TAT as the team that helped polish the original Android interface on the T-Mobile G1 as well as from more recent UI design projects — the important thing is that these guys have shown they know what they’re doing. We have to admit, pairing the rock solid foundation of the QNX-built PlayBook OS with some top-level spit-shine from a company specializing in exactly that has us legitimately excited. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see a BlackBerry with a user interface that someone other than a BBMer could love.
[Thanks, Rasmus]
RIM buys TAT, BlackBerry UI in danger of becoming awesome originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 07:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Sydsvenskan | BlackBerry Blog | Email this | Comments
Okay, maybe not everybody, but the vast majority of the Android offerings from Archos are receiving some guilt-free sweet treats. Models 23, 32, 43, 70, and 101 (you know, these guys) are all on the lucky receiving end of firmware updates that bring Android 2.2.1 to the table. That comes with improved performance, better battery life estimation, and support for external GPS adapters. All yours for the low, low price of free — well, assuming you’ve already bought the tablet, of course.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Archos Internet Tablets get firmware updates, everybody gets a Froyo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Archos | Email this | Comments
Wesley Snipes will soon be getting fitted for some prison stripes.
The U.S. Marshal’s Office has ordered the Blade star to report to a federal penitentiary in Pennsylvania on Dec. 9…
Adobe Flash Player is now sandboxed in the latest dev channel release of Google Chrome, bringing a huge security benefit to Chrome users. Here’s why: More »
Now that HP owns Palm, it's been made it clear they have little interest in selling Windows Home Server boxes. Zero interest, actually—they've announced they're selling the rest of the inventory they've got, and never looking back. More »