Reality Bites
More proof that a real Terminator is hard to kill! Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed on to be in the fifth Terminator flick being directed by Fast Five’s Justin Lin. Can this new film wipe Terminator Salvation from our memories forever? More »
1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?
Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.
The big hubbub that arose last week around location tracking within the iPhone has now received its due response from Apple itself. Firstly, the Cupertino company claims it does not, and has no plans to, track users’ iPhones. What it’s actually doing is “maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location,” which are then used to provide speedier calculation of your position when you want to use the device’s maps or other location-based services. The data collection that was recently brought to the public attention represents, according to Apple, the location of WiFi hotspots and cell towers around you, not your actual iPhone. Still, the fact iPhones have been shown to store as much as a year's worth of data is considered a bug by Apple, who plans to limit that period to a week in a future software update. The additional issue of data being collected after users turned off Location Services is also a bug, also to be fixed by Apple in that upcoming update. Left unanswered, however, are the questions of when Apple "uncovered" these bugs, as it claims, and why the fix for them is only coming now. Specialists have known about this behavior since at least September of last year. Either way, the software remedy is promised over the next few weeks, while the next major iteration of iOS should encrypt the cache file that's been the subject of all the scrutiny. You'll find the full Q&A after the break.
P.S. — One of Apple’s answers seems to disclose an extra bit of new information: “Apple is now collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database with the goal of providing iPhone users an improved traffic service in the next couple of years.”
Continue reading Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn’t do it
Apple officially answers questions on location tracking, says it doesn’t do it originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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China’s been making its mark on the world for years, but there’s still one massive piece of real estate where the country’s citizens haven’t hung their ubiquitous red flag: space. The China Manned Space Engineering Office hopes to change that within the next decade, however, unveiling a model of its first space station on Monday. The station’s current moniker is Tiangong (Chinese for “heavenly palace”) but the space agency is asking the public to suggest alternatives at kongjianzhan@vip.qq.com through July 25th. At 60 tons, the complete facility is significantly smaller than the 419-ton International Space Station, so residents should probably keep the man cave tidy in case Chinese astronauts need some room to stretch out while not connecting to the PlayStation Network. We’re working on our own list of names for little Tiangong here, but feel free to share your submissions after the break.
China unveils space station, launching by 2020 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re still waiting for Microsoft to blow us away with its strategy for tablet domination but, thanks to the latest build of Windows 8 to drip through onto the internets, we have yet another indicator that the company’s hopes rely on that OS. Of course we already know that it’ll run on ARM processors, and now we have a look at a set of settings that have strong tablet implications. On display in the video below (and the picture above) are toggles for mobile broadband, Bluetooth, and GPS. Sure, laptops have those too, but here it’s all presented with a Metro flair that, frankly, looks like a real chore to manage with a mouse. (Just look at those scrollbars!) But, with a 16:9 screen and gesture swiping, maybe it’ll all come together. Meanwhile, WinRumors is reporting that there will be six separate flavors of Windows 8 and that tablets are actually quite far along, again pointing to a Q1 2012 release at the latest. Yes, we’re already looking forward to next year’s CES, aren’t you?
Windows 8 settings page suggests tablet compatibility, embraces Metro scrollbars (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EVO and MyTouch 4G owners have been able to enjoy the virtues of video calling via Qik for some time, but Skype’s latest acquisition is finally letting a few more phones in on the action. Qik Video Connect now works with some devices running Android 2.1 and up, iPhones, iPad 2s and any iPod Touch with a camera — letting Apple fanboys and Android apologists speak face to face over 3G, 4G, and WiFi with the device of their choosing. It’s not the first app to do cross-platform video calling, but it is the only one with Qik’s video mail and video sharing services. The catch? It’s only currently available on ten Android handsets, though dev teams are “busy getting Video Chat ready on additional phones.” Let’s hope they work quickly.
Qik Video Connect gets Android and Apple users seeing eye-to-eye originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
We’re not sure how this slipped past us at the Sony Android tablet event, but turns out the electronics giant also teased a couple of interesting VAIO laptops. First up is a “Freestyle Hybrid PC” that slides between tablet mode and laptop mode — very much like the Samsung Sliding PC, but with a seemingly slimmer bottom-half sans trackpad (though we can just about spot a pointing stick on the keyboard). No word on specs, prices, or availability here, but you may recall our proven tipster mentioning a 9.4-inch screen and a $799 launch in the fall. Could this be it? We shall see.
Also shown alongside is a swanky “Ultimate Mobile PC” — pictured after the break — with a hint of USB 3.0 and HDMI on a slim body, but again, there’s not much else to go with this slide. Hey, at least we now know it’s time to start saving up for these bad boys.
Continue reading Sony teases ‘Freestyle Hybrid PC’ tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop
Sony teases ‘Freestyle Hybrid PC’ tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Dropbox sure has been in the news a lot lately. Two weeks ago Neowin reported that a major security flaw in the service can expose customer files to anyone on the Internet. Now it appears that the company has been trying to shutdown an open source project called Dropship, a…
Here’s something to ponder — will Hulu Plus launch on the Xbox 360 before or after we can sign back into the PSN and change our passwords try out the PS3’s latest version? Sony better hurry, since copies of the June issue of OXM have been spotted that claim the service will launch April 29th, kicking off a month-long giveaway of items including vacations, game systems and Hulu Plus subscriptions to random users. Joystiq confirmed with OXM that the date is actually in the magazine so all that’s left now is the official word, a new app on our dashboards and plenty of gesture and voice controlled madness.
Hulu Plus comes to Xbox 360 April 29th according to OXM originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We’re taking this with a grain of salt, since it applies only to users of the cross-platform Appcelerator Titanium development environment, but it appears that Windows Phone 7 is facing an increasingly uphill battle for mobile mind-share. At this point it should go without saying that a platform lives and dies by its developers and, according to Appcelerator, they’re growing less and less interested in creating apps for Microsoft’s smartphone OS. Only 29-percent of devs responded to the company’s quarterly survey that they were “very interested” in putting their wares on WP7, a fall of 7 points from last quarter and far less than market leaders Android and iOS. News is even worse for RIM, which saw a fall of 11-points in developer interest for BlackBerry, and now trails the folks from Redmond. Again, this survey is based only on the responses of 2,760 developers using a particular product, so we’d refrain from calling the results incontrovertible. Still, it reinforces something that even a casual observer could discern: BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 have a tough row to hoe. Two more charts after the break.
Continue reading Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention
Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
There are some pretty good sub-$100 Android phones out there on the market, but they require a bit of compromise when it comes to performance and software updates. Here’s why you’re probably better off ignoring them. More »
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If I saw one of these I don’t think I’d find these all that cute.
It’s looking like things are just as bad as we feared and that “external intrusion” got a little deeper than we might have liked. In an update on its PlayStation.Blog, Sony just confirmed that the ongoing PSN outage was caused by “malicious actions,” which we already knew, but continues by indicating that there has also been “a compromise of personal information.” Exactly what that means Sony isn’t saying, and it stops short of saying that credit card data for PSN and Qriocity users has been exposed, but the company does say “your credit card number (excluding security code) and expiration date may have been obtained.” Yes, it may have been obtained — even Sony isn’t sure. There’s no further ETA for when PSN may be back up online or when you might be able to finally sample Portal 2‘s delicious online co-op mode, but at least you can still watch Netflix.
Update: Our friends at Joystiq are reporting that Connecticut Senator Blumenthal is rip roarin’ mad about the situation, “demanding answers” from SCEA president Jack Tretton. Right now, we’re more curious what Kevin Butler has to say about things.
Update 2: Sony UK is shedding more light on just what data has been exposed, and frankly we were happier when it was dark. By the sound of things, everything Sony had about you has been accessed. There’s a full list after the break, so only click on through if you dare.
Update 3: Sony’s just posted a clarification regarding the delay of their response: in a nutshell, PSN was shut down after the intrusion on April 19th, and the company needed to work with outside experts to “understand the scope of the breach” before posting the full lowdown earlier today. For those interested, Sony has a lengthy FAQ page regarding this incident.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading Sony provides PSN update, confirms a ‘compromise of personal information’ (updated)
Sony provides PSN update, confirms a ‘compromise of personal information’ (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Which do you think emits more CO2: four guys running one mile, or four guys driving one mile in a hybrid car? If you’ve read the headline, then you already know the answer is quite surprising.
This week, the SETI Institute announced that it would have to shut down its large radio telescope facility, called the Allen Telescope Array, near the California mountain town Hat Creek. For over a decade, SETI has used the 42 radio dishes in its array to scan the skies for possible communications from extraterrestrial intelligence. More »
Last month, the Motorola Xoom was the only officially sanctioned Android 3.0 tablet available in the United States. Now there are four — the T-Mobile G-Slate arrived last week, the Acer Iconia Tab A500 this week, and the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is on sale today, assuming you can find one. All have the same basic silicon inside, but oh-so-slightly different approaches to shape, such that price might honestly be the deciding factor these days. That’s where we thought this WiFi-only Acer Iconia Tab had an edge, launching at $450, but now that ASUS has shaken the money tree with a $400 figure for the Eee Pad Transformer, we doubt other price tags will stick. It could be the tiniest of differentiators that shifts your opinion in favor of a particular slate. What’s a prospective tablet buyer to do? Join us on a tour of the Acer Iconia Tab A500’s particular perks and quibbles after the break, and we’ll tell you.
Continue reading Acer Iconia Tab A500 review
Acer Iconia Tab A500 review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ford Motor Co. said it earned $2.6 billion US in the first quarter, helped by new vehicles like the Ford Explorer.
Right on schedule is SaskTel with making the iPhone 4 available. Currently it’s only the black version and no work on a white model is listed. As for prices, they are the same as all the other carriers: 16GB is $159 on a 3-year and $649 no-term. The 32GB model is $269 on a 3-year […]
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