Category: Video

Never let it be said that we don’t correct our mistakes: you guys were overwhelmingly in support of other programs besides SMPlayer for the title of best video player on Windows, and we heard you. There are a ton of programs out there, and sometimes it can be hard to sift through them all, but we’ve added your suggestions to the pool and decided that KMPlayer deserves the title. We’ve updated the App Directory page to reflect this, as well as include some of the other choices you guys love. Thanks for all your feedback, and keep it coming! [The Best Video Player for Windows] More »

Swedish sea treasure hunters have found something extraordinary: A 60-foot disc sunk in the bottom of the ocean, with what appears to be 985-foot-long impact tracks leading to it. The team leader never found anything like it: More »

You know, it wouldn’t even bother us if it didn’t look so amazing. But alas, the Eee Slider from ASUS is easily one of the most anticipated Honeycomb tablets around, and our unending love for the since-departed HTC Advantage ensures that the flame for this guy will keep burning, too. Just a few weeks after hearing from ASUS’ UK branch that the Slider was being delayed until ‘autumn,’ in flies word from The Netherlands that we may be able to fix our gaze on September. Based on reports from Tablets Magazine, the 16GB model will be canned altogether in favor of a lone 32 gigger, which should sell for €499 across the pond. As for the 3G-enabled variant? We aren't apt to see that surface until Q1 2012. It's tough to pinpoint the reason for the holdup, but our guess is software — earlier in the week, a hands-on video emerged showcasing the Slider with Android 3.1, paying particular attention to the newfound USB accessory support. Have a gander at the video just past the break, and feel free to console one another in comments.

Update: Seems that ASUS’ Polish arm thinks that the 16GB model may ship in that corner of the world. Hmm… maybe these folks should start talking to one another.

Continue reading ASUS Eee Slider update: 32GB model in September, 3G edition in 2012

ASUS Eee Slider update: 32GB model in September, 3G edition in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you gave up on TNT’s Falling Skies after the first few episodes, now’s a great time to give it another chance. The just-concluded “Sanctuary” two-parter was genuinely intense and awesome. And this Sunday’s new episode has answers, action and weirdness. More »

ASUS first showed off its Eee Pad Slider what seems forever ago. That was way, way back at CES, amongst the deluge of tablety announcements. The keyboard-hiding Honeycomb device is finally on its way, having been given an August release date in the UK and recently hitting the FCC in the States. The 10.1-inch tablet just popped up in the August catalog for the Phone House (the Carphone Warehouse's brand outside the UK) catalog in Portugal, priced at €349 ($497) under contract with ZON — that's down from €479 ($684) without contract. The forthcoming tablet also hammed it up for the camera recently — video of that after the break.

[Thanks, Zack and Pedro]

Continue reading ASUS Eee Pad Slider priced in Portuguese catalog, manhandled on camera (video)

ASUS Eee Pad Slider priced in Portuguese catalog, manhandled on camera (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve already seen the Android App Player leak out, and now the BlackBerry PlayBook has taken one more (unofficial) step towards being a full-fledged, psuedo-Android tablet. While it’s described as a “proof of concept,” the video above from CrackBerry forum member Lawguyman shows that the tablet is at least capable of running the Android Market and downloading apps, albeit with a few PlayBook-induced obstacles — check out the furious swiping around the 1:30 mark. Here’s hoping for a slightly more official solution before long.

[Thanks, Steve]

Android Market seen running on BlackBerry PlayBook (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Credit card fraud costs the banking industry billions of dollars every year, and with companies yet to find an entirely secure system for processing payments online, there’s no end in sight for unauthorized transactions. Jumio hopes to bring both security and convenience to the world of online payments, however, with its webcam-based Netswipe secure card reader solution. The system replicates the point of sale (POS) transactions you experience when making in-store purchases, prompting cardholders to scan the front on their credit card, then enter their CVV code using a tamperproof mouse-controlled interface. We’re not sure how the software is able to distinguish a physical credit card from, say, a photocopy of a card, but it certainly sounds more secure than the standard input form we use today. It also reduces card number theft from insecure forms and website spoofing, by verifying details through a live video stream. Jump past the break for the full press release, along with video overviews of Netswipe and Jumio, which recently secured $6.5 million in initial funding and is backed by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

Continue reading Netswipe turns your webcam into a credit card reader, brings POS payments to the desktop

Netswipe turns your webcam into a credit card reader, brings POS payments to the desktop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This isn’t the first time Toshiba has showed up fashionably late to a party. Back in 2009, long after most every other consumer electronics maker big and small had jumped on the netbook bandwagon, the company belatedly released its first mini, the NB205. And it was fantastic. So we were optimistic when the outfit finally got around to releasing the Thrive, its first Android tablet for the US market. Surely, we thought, it’s learned a thing or two from everybody else’s mistakes.

And in that regard, at least, this 10-inch tablet doesn’t disappoint. It has full-sized USB and HDMI ports, an SD card slot, and a removable battery — all features you’d sooner find on a laptop. It comes with a raft of practical apps already installed, so that you don’t have to go hunting for them in Android Market. It’s one of the first out of the gate with Android 3.1, an undeniably improved version of Honeycomb. Oh, and it starts at $429, undercutting many of its competitors. Right there, in less than a paragraph, we’ve laid out why you might want this over any of the other umpteen tabs crowding the market. But should you get one? Well, folks, we’ll need more than a paragraph to tackle that. Join us after the break, won’t you?

Continue reading Toshiba Thrive review

Toshiba Thrive review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Straight from Comic-Con, here’s the trailer for the thirteen-episode second season of The Walking Dead. Zombies! Shane running! Tension! Drama! Fences! Enjoy. More »

Android has more than a few good video players on the Market, but the best we found—in terms of interface, browsing, and playback quality—was undoubtedly MoboPlayer. More »

Back when we first laid eyes on Tango, the startup was sticking strictly to mobile, serving up free video calls over 3G, 4G, and WiFi to both iOS and Android devices (with front-facing cameras, of course). Now the company’s thinking big — quite literally — with the announcement that it plans to bring its video calling service to PCs sometime later this summer. As of now, it looks as if this will be a Windows-only affair, and will remain free of charge — as before, you won’t need to register to get your videophone on. We’ve yet to see Tango at work on the big screen, but from what we gather from the press stills, the desktop edition will bring a bit of the old Apple to your PC. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Tango brings video calling to desktop PCs — giant baby head not included

Tango brings video calling to desktop PCs — giant baby head not included originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two Lenovo tablets in the same evening? Nah, it’s not the midsummer sun melting your cerebrum, but the same result just might happen after you ingest this one. True to rumors, the ThinkPad Tablet (yeah, that’s seriously the whole name) will indeed be shipping with a full-size USB port and an optional dedicated folio / case, and oddly enough, it’s that very peripheral that could set this unit apart from the masses. While it’s obviously no big chore to find a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard folio for the iPad, you probably won’t find a perfectly matching case with a tried-and-true Lenovo keyboard and a newfangled optical trackpad unless you’re ponying up for this guy. Internally, we’re looking at the same 1GHz Tegra 2 silicon as found in the more consumery IdeaPad K1, a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) IPS display, a battery good for up to 8.7 hours of use, 1GB of RAM, 16/32/64GB of storage, 3-in-1 card reader, A-GPS, an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, front (2MP) / rear (5MP) cameras, a mini HDMI port (1080p capable!) and Lenovo’s own app launcher / app market.

In our discussions with Lenovo, it was made fairly clear that this guy was being aimed more at companies and less at consumers, but there’s absolutely nothing stopping the latter from enjoying a solid Honeycomb experience here. In fact, the ability to plug in a common mouse or trackpad (or combo device, for that matter) makes it far more useful than many of the ultraslim slates it’ll inevitably go up against. Also unique to the Tablet is a built-in active stylus, which is tailor-made to jot down highly important information cartoons in the company’s homegrown note-taking program.

The full-size USB port also puts it squarely in Eee Transformer territory, with the Keyboard Folio shown above making perfect use of it. In practice, the accessory worked beautifully, and while the $99 price tag may seem a bit steep, it’s not exactly cheap to go out and get a third-party case, keyboard and mouse. The company’s demanding $499 (and up) for it’s Android 3.1-based biz slate, with initial shipments starting today. Peek the hands-on video just after the break!

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet and Keyboard Folio case hands-on (video)

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet and Keyboard Folio case hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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