.::REALITYRECALL::.

Very sad news to report tonight, as we’ve learned that Andy Whitfield, the star of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, has died at the age of 39.

Still no official launch date for Asus’s funny-looking 10.1-inch hybrid, but we’ve already seen evidence of a September release and now there’s a whole drum-roll of pre-order pages up at Amazon. You’re looking at $580 for the 32GB model in white or mocha, or $100 less if you settle for the 16GB variant and cram the rest of your digital possessions onto microSD or — yes indeedy — some USB 2.0 external storage. Needless to say, all shades come with the same Tegra 2 processor, Honeycomb 3.2, 1GB of RAM, Mini HDMI out, a 5MP rear camera and 1.2MP front-facer. At this point, all these sliders need to do is turn up.

Update: Looks like Amazon pulled those pages and spoiled our fun.

[Thanks, Peter]

Asus Eee Pad Slider up for pre-order at Amazon, starting at $480 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This weekend I was stricken with hiccups so persistent they lasted over 36 hours. While the cure ultimately required medical attention, I tried every home remedy I could find online. While nothing could stop them for good, the only supposed cure that actually worked—if only temporarily—was apple cider vinegar. More »

Four-year-olds who watched nine minutes of the fast-paced cartoon SpongeBob Squarepants showed temporary attention and learning problems, researchers found.

The Royal Bank expects Saskatchewan to lead provinces in growth in 2011, with Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador close behind.

Dolby sued RIM in June for using their digital audio compression technology that’s found in the speakers of PlayBook and various smartphones (Storm, Tour, Pearl, Curve and Torch), requesting the court to “to halt sales of the many RIM products that infringe Dolby’s patents”. Now, a few months later and miraculously avoiding a legal battle, RIM has agreed to pay patent royalties to Dolby. The details were were not disclosed but it’s supposed to be “standard terms”, Bloomberg reported that Dolby was estimating on getting a $15 million worth of royalty from previous years – which really isn’t a big number for the amount of revenue RIM has brought in over the past several years.

Dolby General Counsel Andy Sherman said “We are pleased to welcome RIM into Dolby’s family of mobile-technology licensees… We believe in and will continue to protect the value of our intellectual property.”

Source: Bloomberg
Via: N4BB

Related posts:

1. Dolby suing RIM over Patent Infringement
2. Kodak files lawsuit against Apple and RIM. You guessed it…patent infringement
3. HTC to “fully defend itself” against Apple’s patent lawsuit

Researchers discover that UV-repellent compound found in coral could be developed into a sunscreen pill.

Looks like we’re all indebted to HP in one way or another. Since the TouchPad fire sale began, we’ve seen a noticeable southward shift in tablet pricing — it’s as if iPad rivals finally figured out that battling on price was just about the only way to make a dent in Apple’s enviable market share. Now, we’re seeing Fusion Garage wipe a full $200 from its Grid 10 tablet… before the thing even ships. If you’ll recall, the outfit was aiming for a September 15th release date here in the States, with initial pricing for its 16GB model set for $499 (WiFi-only) / $599 (WiFi + 3G). Out of the blue, those pre-order rates have plummeted to $299 / $399 this morning, giving prospective Grid OS adopters entirely more motivation to buy in. It seems that Amazon hasn’t received the memo quite yet, so those hoping to get in the low-cost line should scurry down to the source link. Naturally, we’ll be bringing you a full-on review as soon as we procure one, and we’re guessing that just became a lot more relevant to your interests.

Update: A Fusion Garage spokesperson told Engadget that the company had planned to launch with the lower price all along, but negotiations with an ODM made it impossible to announce the price earlier. The company also added that the Grid 10 will experience a slight shipping delay, being pushed back to October 1st due to a “new criteria in [the] Adobe Flash Player (FP) 10.3 approval process.”

Update 2: Looks like UKers can also get in on the fun! Those prices are listed at £259 (WiFi-only) / £359 (WiFi + 3G).

[Thanks, Jeff]

Fusion Garage hacks $200 off of Grid 10 tablet, aims to play the undercutting game originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rovio has made one of the most popular mobile games on the planet – Angry Birds has swelled to over 300 million download and estimations are that they’ll be hitting the billion mark soon. The company itself is worth $1 billion and they’ve made to game available on several platforms but most of the revenue comes from both iPhone and Android. A new infograph was created by AYTM that goes deep into the psychology of our Angry Birds addiction: over 200 minutes played per day, 76% download the free version, 23% feel relaxed when they play Angry Birds and 52% feel joy. In total there’s been over 100 billion Angry Birds thrown. Check out the full image below

Source: Mashable
(Thanks Cam!)

Related posts:

1. Angry Birds passes 250 million downloads, has a goal of reaching 1 billion by end of next year
2. Angry Birds coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook
3. Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 updated with 90 new levels

Windows Live SkyDrive currently offers 25GB free storage space to its users, but this is set to increase as soon it will allow the storage of unlimited documents and unlimited photos Read more…

Android: If you’re an Android user that likes to delve deeper into system settings Elixir 2 might be up your alley. The app tests and displays metrics for your accelerometer, gravity sensor, magnetic field sensor as well as many other system properties and can even create skinnable widgets so you find relevant data on your home screen. More »

Yaroslavl Lokomotiv will not play in the Kontinental Hockey League this season. The news was announced by team president Yury Yakovlev on Saturday, multiple media reports say, after a public viewing for the 36 players, coaches and staff of the club who were killed this week.

You heard right, film aficionados — Netflix has just updated its Android app in order to bring one major, major change: “expanded support for phones.” Previously, the app only worked on a smattering of smartphones, but as of today, v1.4 brings playback to “all Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices.” Congratulations — your weekend just got a lot better. Hit the source link to get your download on, or just visit the Market for an update if you’re already in the door. So much for those “hardware DRM requirements” we heard about at MWC, huh?

Psst… all is well at Engadget US, but our colleagues in Canada aren’t seeing the update yet.

Update: Seems T-Mobile’s G2x is left out of the “all.” Anyone else having issues with a particular handset?

[Thanks, 3vil and Brett]

Now showing: Netflix 1.4 brings playback to ‘all Android 2.2 and 2.3 devices’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Celebrate the release of a 4 year old former PC exclusive with this debut trailer.

We’ve shown you how to wipe correctly, but did you know that same toilet paper can help prevent splash damage as a result of a heavier-than-usual water landing? The video above illustrates. More »

The federal government announced Friday that Sept. 11 will become a “national day of service” to inspire Canadians to show the kind of compassion and generosity that were in abundance following the attacks of 10 years ago.