Reality Bites
We’ve long assumed that the double decker disaster scenario of a massive earthquake and tsunami caused the Fukushima meltdown. Turns out, all it took was the former, which knocked out Fukushima’s cooling in less than 10 minutes. More »
Moonplayer is a free streaming video site that endlessly plays music by your favorite artists using YouTube content. The service takes a Pandora-like approach to playlists, as it only allows the user to choose the artists, not the songs. Unlike Pandora, however, MoonPlayer only plays music by artists you add to the playlist—and it never stops playing unless you pause it. More »
Looks like Acer’s 7-inch Iconia Tab A100 has opted for a fashionably late entrance. We’ve just been informed by the company that its Honeycomb-sporting, Tegra 2-powered slate will not be arriving, as had been expected, right around now, but will in fact make its debut in the second half of 2011. No reasons have been given for the move, other than to say that the device has been postponed. The thing that prompted us to query Acer’s PR team was a report out of Poland suggesting the A100 had been cancelled. Acer’s UK reps are adamant that’s not been the case, but anyone who was looking forward to grabbing one soon will be disappointed either way.
Acer postpones Iconia Tab A100 launch to second half of the year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 06:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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For weeks now, Lenovo aficionados have been salivating. Thanks to a series of leaks, more than a few of you have been awaiting the ThinkPad X1, the skinny, girlfriend-proof follow-up to the company’s vaunted X series. One problem: it didn’t officially exist. Well, the jig is up, and the X1 is at last a real, whirring product, on sale tomorrow with a starting price of $1,349. As expected, it marries that iconic red nub and rock-solid construction with some flourishes you haven’t yet seen on a ThinkPad, including a 13.3-inch Gorilla Glass display, integrated, fast-charging battery, and a buttonless trackpad. And, as you may have gathered from those leaked shots, it’s the slimmest ThinkPad yet, measuring just 16.5mm (0.65 inches) at its thinnest point.
Throw in Intel Core 2011 processor options and you’ll see Lenovo has made one lofty promise: a svelte system that performs like a heavyweight and whose design is modern, but not too much of a departure from the classic ThinkPad uniform. So how close does the X1 come to living up to these towering claims? Let’s find out.
Gallery: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 review
Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad X1 review
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 17:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Those new desktops HP unveiled today are little more than humming foot rests without a monitor, so the company also trotted out the x2301 Micro Thin — a 23-inch, LED-backlit, 1080p display that’s an absolutely anorexic 9.8mm (0.39 inches) thick. Most of the important internals have been shoved into the blue-tinted base to keep the brushed aluminum and glossy black screen as thin as possible. It’s not exactly a high-end model, but the 3ms response time and 8,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio are nothing to sniff at. The x2301 is expected to ship on June 10th for $280, just after its slightly cheaper (and chubbier) cousin, the Elite L2201x. Fashionistas, the line starts right around the bend.
Gallery: HP x2301 Micro Thin Monitor
HP x2301 Micro Thin monitor makes other displays feel bloated, insecure originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
When Microsoft takes the stage May 24th to preview the next release of Windows Phone, will there be any surprises left for the peanut gallery? In the last week we’ve seen numerous features announced or leaked, an awfully big coincidence given the timing of next week’s event. More cats were let out of their bags today at Microsoft’s annual TechEd conference keynote, as several enterprise-related capabilities were shown off that both companies and consumers have sorely missed on their phones.
First up are pinnable email folders, giving users the opportunity to pin a specific folder of higher priority — such as emails from your boss or wife — to your start screen. Toss in email threads complete with conversation view, and now Mango is looking even more drool-worthy. But there’s more, folks: Exchange users frustrated by online having access to recent correspondence can look forward to server search — a new function that’ll enable you to sift through your entire email collection if need be. Rounding out the grocery list of new updates is Lync support, complex alpha-numeric passcodes for higher security, Information Rights Management support, and — hallelujah — the ability to connect to hidden WiFi networks natively. About time, right? Take a peek at the full breakdown of the new features at the source link.
Update: Now with video, after the break!
Continue reading Microsoft outlines new enterprise features coming to Windows Phone ‘Mango’
Microsoft outlines new enterprise features coming to Windows Phone ‘Mango’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 14:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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As even non-Canadians may recall, there was a big issue in the country a few years back over a so-called “iPod tax” (something that cropped up again in the recent election) and, while it still hasn’t come to pass, the Canadian Private Copying Collective is now pushing for a music tax of another sort. While there’s no iPods in danger of being taxed this time, the CPCC is asking for a new levy to be placed on memory cards (presumably all types, although that hasn’t been specified). That levy would vary depending on the capacity of the card, with those less than 1GB facing a $0.50 tax, while cards between 1GB and 8GB would have an additional dollar tacked on, and those over 8GB would cost a full $3 more. Needless to say, that would be a fairly sizable percentage of the price in most cases given the way memory card prices are dropping — and it would cast a fairly broad brush, as those memory cards obviously aren’t just used for music. Of course, it is also still just a proposal but, as the Excess Copyright blog notes, the peculiarities of the Canadian Copyright Board may well give the CPCC a leg up in this case. Head on past the break for its official announcement.
Continue reading Canadian copyright group pushes for levy on memory cards
Canadian copyright group pushes for levy on memory cards originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft Office is a product that is used around the world by millions of individuals every day. The product is Microsoft’s crown jewel of productivity software and Office 2010 is about to receive its first major update.
Microsoft announced today that the first service pack (SP1) for Office 2010 and SharePoint…
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In March, This or That published an article called The Top 5 Countries the U.S. Should Invade Next. Guess who was at the top of the list? Canada, of course. Canada is the perfect choice! Who else is geographically close to America, lacks military power, has the largest supply of fresh water in the world, has free healthcare and cheap pharmaceuticals? Yep, Canada is the perfect country to invade.
Mayhem, that’s what will always happen if you build a railroad or any other structure in the middle of a water stream without the proper support. This video, taken in Stackpool, Ontario, it’s a good demonstration of that simple principle. More »
Filed under: TV News
Yabba Dabba Wha? Seth MacFarlane has closed a deal to reboot ‘The Flintstones’ via new TV and film projects.
First reported by Deadline, MacFarlane and his legal team have cleared the necessary hurdles to get the project started. Fox confirmed the news at their 2011 Upfronts.
MacFarlane is known for his Fox cartoon sitcoms ‘Family Guy,’ ‘American Dad’ and ‘The Cleveland Show,’ and that type of humor reportedly put some ‘Flintstones’ shareholders on edge.
The classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon aired from 1960-1966 on ABC. The series aired several spinoffs and animated specials throughout the years, with the most recent, ‘The Flintstones: On The Rocks’ airing in 2001.
It was reinterpreted for the big screen starring John Goodman and Rosie O’Donnell in 1994 with a prequel, ‘The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas,’ hitting theaters in 2000.
Continue reading Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off one last time (video)
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off one last time (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A woman in a Honda had a tire blow out and, rather than putting on a spare like a normal person, she drove the car all the way to the dealership. Who wants to bet she complained about having to buy a new wheel? More »
Samsung’s 11.6-inch Series 9 now shipping in the US, priced at $1,160 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
As then prime minister Jean Chrétien announced in 2003 that Canada wouldn’t join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Canadian diplomats were secretly telling their U.S. counterparts something entirely different, a secret document reveals.
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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