Category: GReader

The giant PC gaming rigs of the last decade are so passé. Hot this year are sleeker, more cut models, models like the DARWINmachine Hammerhead HMR989. It looks like a crazy casemod but it’s actually a custom-built rig you can order, priced at $2,899 and sporting a vertically mounted NVIDIA GTX460 graphics accelerator, a 2.8Ghz Core i7-860 processor, a combination of SSD and platter-based storage, and a power supply left hanging on the side. It’s all aluminum and resin sheets and lovely, though we could probably do without the blue LEDs.

DARWINmachine Hammerhead HMR989 gaming rig looks ferocious, can attack your desk for $2,900 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota sold 8.42 million vehicles globally in 2010, remaining the world’s top automaker for the third year straight despite recall woes in the key North American market.

Consider this little slice of photography uncorroborated for now, but we just couldn’t ignore a device that’s ostensibly running MeeGo software while sporting a bold Nokia logo front and center on its shell. This mysterious slate has cropped up over at the mobile-review forums, where amateur sleuthing has already noted that the landscape centering of the Nokia logo is atypical — both the N97 and N900 have it off-center — which may well suggest this is a landscape-centric tablet first and a phone second (if at all!). Assuming the brand name imprint is the same size as on the N8 (Nokia loves to standardize those), we could be looking at a 4.5-inch screen on what is either an internal test device, or, more optimistically, a prototype for actual hardware. It’s worth noting that the MeeGo seen on board is of the stock variety, whereas Nokia intends to ship its new flagship device(s) with an as-yet-unseen set of UI customizations collectively known as Harmattan. So we’re certainly not looking at anything close to a final hardware / software pairing, but we are looking at something.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Is this Nokia’s tablet-shaped MeeGo device?

Is this Nokia’s tablet-shaped MeeGo device? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 03:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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An Italian team of researchers claims to have discovered cold fusion. It will either change the world or be another fruitless and premature “breakthrough.”

Wow, insider tipsters are getting efficient! Verizon appears to have only just added Minimum Advertised Pricing for the Motorola Xoom to its internal systems, but already it’s been leaked out by more than one source. Android Central has the damning evidence, which lists an $800 levy for any prospective owners of the flagship Android Honeycomb device. It’s accompanied by a listing of the HTC Thunderbolt at $250, with the logical conclusion being that the Moto tablet will come unsullied by subsidies while the HTC LTE handset will probably cost that much on a two-year deal. That makes plenty of sense to us — the typical smartphone price is $200 and Verizon can point to the 4G goodness the Thunderbolt brings as justifying its $50 premium, whereas the Xoom’s cost seems to be in line with the Galaxy Tab’s pricing. Now, how about some launch dates, leaksters?

Motorola Xoom priced at $800 at a minimum, according to Verizon leak originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You might have stumbled across a story or two on the web today about Florian Mueller from FOSSpatents finding 43 more files in the Android source that look to be copied from Sun.  I know I did, and had a heart wrenching editorial all ready to go, all about Google's open source strategy in their fight against Oracle, how it might fail, and how I was going to shave my beard and cry.

Then I stumbled across Ed Burnette’s story on ZDNet.

All the fuss, all the hysteria, and most importantly all the cries against Google proclaiming them as thieves aren't what they seem.  There are two sets of files in question — a series of seven (PolicyNodeImpl.java, AclEntryImpl.java, AclImpl.java, GroupImpl.java, OwnerImpl.java, PermissionImpl.java, and PrincipalImpl.java) that contain proprietary code from Sun, and do exist, but they are in the unit test area of the AOSP source tree.  This means they are only used to test software after it's built, and before it's shipped.  To be clear — these files are not used to build Android, nor are the shipped with Android.  To take things a step further, these files were published by Sun on their own website to assist developers to test and debug — exactly what Google is using them for.

The other 37 files exist as well, but are inside a zip file in an area of the source tree used for one particular audio chipset.  These files look like they were uploaded by mistake, and also aren't used to build Android or ship with any Android devices.  These will probably just be deleted from the tree, as they don't do anything.

One more anti-Android story proven false and put out to pasture.  Let's get ready for the next one, because everyone wants to see some of those beautiful, green Android dollars. [ZDNet]

ref. links — FOSS patents; Engadget

Update: Before anybody starts nailing anybody to anything, please read Engadget’s excellent update on whole situation.

Copied code not in Android source after all (updated) posted originally by Android Central

Sponsored by Android Cases and Accessories

If you’re among the 77 percent of Lifehacker readers who feel that the quality of Google’s search results is in decline, you may be happy to hear that Google’s working to de-emphasize low-quality sites from results. More »

Google endorses open-source activity around Android, but it looks like their developers “borrowed” a little too much from Sun’s Java code. Oracle, Sun’s owner, is already suing Google for seven infringed patents, but this adds further weight to their claim. More »

The goal is optimistic, but doable.

You could be forgiven for thinking this day would never come. Heck most anyone who cared about the Duke thought he was dead and buried years ago. But like all great action heroes, he just keeps coming back.

In an interview with Game Informer, Gearbox President Randy Pitchford said he was revealing,

the most inconceivable, incorrigible and inspiring turn around story in the history of the video game industry – the coming of Duke Nukem Forever on May 3, 2011.

Equally excited was Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K, who added,

The moment fans all over the world have been waiting for is almost here. May 3, 2011 marks Duke’s return as he unleashes his brash and brutally honest wit on the world. His return is going to be epic and one that will make video gaming history!

I find myself a little disappointed on this one. I was kind of hoping that they’d release this on April 1. It would been the perfect ending to the decade of drama surrounding DNF. Of course, they may have decided that folks were skeptical enough about the game’s release. But I digress…

So there you have it – the most politically incorrect protagonist in history is blasting onto PC, PS3 and XBox 360 in a little over three months. I hope you’re prepared. If not, here’s a little trailer to hold you over.

Infamous leaker Wzor.net has just posted up a slathering of information, and judging by the site’s past leaks, it should be semi-reliable. Before we go any further, none of this information is verified or is confirmed but is speculation from a reputable individual who, in the past, has provided solid…