Reality Bites
In an ideal world, your Android’s apps, their settings, and your system settings would automatically back up to the cloud so that if you lost your phone, bought a new one, or installed a new custom ROM, setting up a fresh device with everything in place would be a piece of cake. The good news: This utopian Android backup actually is possible. Here’s how to set it up. More »
Chrome 11 goes beta with speech-to-text capabilities originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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On Monday, Google expressed its belief that its email users in China were experiencing “a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.” Now, as is par for this thorny course, the Chinese state has come out with a terse rebuttal, saying simply that “this is an unacceptable accusation.” The retort was, says the BBC, part of a regular news conference on Tuesday and it doesn’t appear that any more time was spent on the subject. Which is odd since most people would tend to act to prevent something they see as unacceptable — but then we suppose China already has a pretty long list of folks it’d like to shut up, Google’s just gonna have to get in line and wait its turn. There’s a good citizen.
China, predictably, denies Google’s accusations of Gmail tampering originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We noted Firefox 3’s spectacular eight million downloads in a day when discussing the recent launch of IE9, and that mark shall live on as a record for another day. Firefox 4 looks to have a had a thoroughly successful debut, going past the five million milestone within the first 24 hours of its release, but it hasn’t quite been able to overshadow its predecessor. And before you go comparing its numbers to the latest Internet Explorer, do be cognizant that FF4 released on a wider set of platforms, rendering direct stat comparisons a little dicey. That’s not stopping StatCounter, however, who notes that the latest Firefox already has a 1.95 percent share of the browser market, almost exactly double what IE9 can claim so far. Better get working on that XP compatibility, eh Microsoft?
Update: Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs has the final stats for the first 24 hours and it’s actually even higher than we thought: 7.1 million downloads around the globe. That’s in addition to three million users already running the release candidate for Firefox 4, which turned into the final release. Good work!
Firefox 4 clocks up 7.1 million downloads within first 24 hours, fails to beat Firefox 3 record (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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What happens in this picture is absolutely beyond me. All I know is that it was taken in Italy, and the goats in case (Alpine Ibex) are climbing the walls of the dam to lick the salt off the construction. Click on the picture to make it larger.
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The keyword here is obviously “considers,” but it looks like Japan’s space agency, JAXA, is indeed seriously thinking about using artificial intelligence to improve their rocket launches. As JAXA scientist Yasuhiro Morita explains, as opposed to simply being “automatic” as rockets are today, an “artificially intelligent” rocket would be able to keep watch on its condition, determine the cause of any malfunction, and potentially even fix it itself. According to JAXA, that would not only make rocket launches more efficient, but more cost-effective as well given the reduced manpower needs. That’s not the only new measure being explored to cut costs, though — as Space.com reports, JAXA’s new Epsilon launch vehicle is also being built using fewer, but more advanced components, which promises to let it be moved to the launch pad nearly fully assembled. It’s currently set to launch sometime in 2013, although it’s not yet clear how much it will actually be relying on AI if such a system is put in place.
Japan’s space agency considers using rockets with artificial intelligence originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Now that it’s received its big US debut courtesy of Sprint and under the name EVO View 4G, HTC’s Flyer tablet is free to, um, fly under the radar with a WiFi version this spring, exclusively through Best Buy. Specs on the Flyer are somewhat atypical for the current crop of Android tablets, as it opts for Gingerbread instead of Honeycomb and a 1.5GHz Qualcomm chip intead of the popular Tegra 2 dual-core solution. That, and it’s a 7-inch tablet with a capacitive stylus and an aluminum unibody shell. Notably, this WiFi-centric variant looks set to beat the WiMAX-capable EVO View (which Sprint expects in the summer) to market, so we’ll be keeping a very curious eye on pricing as and when it is announced. For now, we have a retailer and a rapidly dwindling release window. Oh, and a press release, which you’ll find just past the break, augmented with a neat little promo video.
[Thanks, Michael]
Continue reading HTC’s WiFi-only Flyer launching exclusively with Best Buy ‘this spring’
HTC’s WiFi-only Flyer launching exclusively with Best Buy ‘this spring’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Boeing took a huge — both literally and figuratively — step in the development of the largest commercial jet in its history when the 747-8 took to the skies for the first time. Granted, the airframe’s cargo version has already logged over 1,600 hours up in the air, but putting the 250-foot passenger plane with a 224-foot wingspan — 19 feet longer and 13 feet wider than the gargantuan 747-400 — through its first few paces without incident is no small feat. The 747-8 borrows some of the 787 Dreamliner’s weight-trimming tech for better fuel efficiency and lower operational costs than older 747s and jumbo jet competition from Airbus. We just hope it didn’t inherit the 787’s penchant for delays as well. If all goes according to plan, the new jetliner should complete the 600 test flight hours needed for FAA certification in time to deliver the first 747-8s to customers by the end of the year. We doubt airlines will use the plane’s extra space to give us shlubs riding coach any more legroom, but at least its improved all-around efficiency should make flying a little cheaper. PR’s after the break.
Boeing’s biggest jet takes flight, promises lowest ‘seat mile’ cost of any commercial airliner originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google scores a patent for its ‘Doodles’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s been in limited beta since July and hit the App World a few weeks ago but if you didn’t grab it then, go download BlackBerry Protect for your Blackberry now. You can locate your BB on a map, set a password, wipe it, make it ring loud or display a message and even wirelessly backup your phone’s contents. All for free! [BlackBerry App World] More »
We were pretty sure Acer’s Iconia Tab would be riding Big Red — you know, given the LTE modem and Verizon apps on board — but it looks like the company will also support America's GSM juggernaut with a "4G" radio of some sort. AT&T just announced that the Acer Iconia Tab A501 will bring the 10.1-inch Honeycomb form factor and dual-core 1GHz Tegra 250 processor to its network sometime in Q2, giving the carrier a Android rival to Sprint's HTC EVO View 4G, T-Mobile’s LG G-Slate, and of course Verizon’s Motorola Xoom. How many Benjamins will it take to bring one home? Now that, my friends, is the question. You can join us in failing to find the answer in a press release below.
Continue reading AT&T nabs Acer Iconia Tab A501, expect it in the summer months
AT&T nabs Acer Iconia Tab A501, expect it in the summer months originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This is a bit of good news: The Tokyo Electric Power Company has managed to connect power lines to all the reactors at their Fukushima nuclear power plant. This doesn’t mean that power has been reestablished in its entirety, however. More »
It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen a new DisplayLink-equipped secondary monitor, but it looks as if the drought is ending today. Toshiba has quietly pushed out a new 14-inch mobile USB display, weighing just 2.8 pounds and retailing for a freakishly affordable $199.99. That sum gets you 1366 x 768 pixels, 220 nits of brightness — if you plug in an optional AC adapter — a 400:1 contrast ratio, 16 millisecond response time and native support for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP. As these things go, a simple USB connection is all that’s required to provide basic power to the unit and send the signal, and it seems to be shipping now for those who’ve outgrown their 7-inch Mimo.
Toshiba outs 14-inch, DisplayLink-powered USB mobile monitor for $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The recent exoplanet spotting by NASA’s Kepler probe revealed there might be more than a million Earth-like planets in our galaxy. Now a new estimate says as many as 1 out of every 37 sun-like stars has an Earth-like world. More »
It’s been quite a month for browsers, with Internet Explorer and Firefox both dropping big new versions, and Chrome and Opera continuing their regular improvements. We tested all these browsers’ startup and tab-loading times, JavaScript powers, and memory use for your fast-minded enjoyment. Update: With 32-versus-64-bit IE 9 results. More »
“My dear, you dont seem to realize that all there is in life is love. That’s all there is….
You know who took the iPad 2 launch pretty seriously? Samsung, that’s who. Just as we had heard, the company’s executives were impressed by Apple’s ability to slim down its tablet and, well, it turns out that it took it as a challenge to come up with some thinner tablets of its own. That’s right, in addition to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 that we have seen repeatedly teased over the last few weeks the company’s announcing a totally revamped Galaxy Tab 10.1, and both slates are incredibly thin yet very well spec’d. On top of that, both will be the first Honeycomb tablets to stray from the pure Android 3.0 experience and add what Samsung’s taken to calling its TouchWiz UX or TouchWiz 4.0. We’ve got all the details and some hands-on impressions waiting below, so hit the break!
Updated: Samsung came clean with the pricing at its press conference this morning. The WiFi 10.1 will hit on June 8th — the 16GB version will cost you $499 and the 32GB $599. The 8.9 is $469 and $569 for 16GB and 32GB, respectively.
Gallery: Samsung TouchWiz UX for Honeycomb
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and new Galaxy Tab 10.1 hands-on: thinner than the iPad 2, dual-core power, TouchWiz 4.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s hard to believe, but the man who ushered an entire generation (boldly) where no man had gone before is now about as old as your grandpa. But we love you, William Shatner, and wish you a very happy birthday. More »
In the dead of night … pre-orders happen. RIM has snuck out the first official pricing for its 7-inch BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and, true to its promise, it costs less than $500. A cent less than $500. The 16GB WiFi-only PlayBook is now up for pre-order at Best Buy and is coming to a vast list of other retailers soon. Staples, Office Depot and RadioShack are among the popular US store chains, while AT&T, Sprint and Verizon will also carry the tablet. No T-Mobile on that list. Canadian pre-orders for the same model are now live as well, also at $499.99, albeit in the local dollar currency. A 32GB WiFi model will set Canucks back C$600 and the 64GB model is C$700, which might be indicative of US pricing too if price parity is maintained throughout the range. The almost full press release (still no release date) follows after the break.
Update: A second press release has confirmed full US pricing for the WiFi versions: 16GB is $500, 32GB is $600 and 64GB is $700. Scheduled to be available on April 19th!
BlackBerry PlayBook priced at $500 for 16GB WiFi model, pre-orders begin today (update: available April 19th) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 04:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In spite of Apple’s grumbling, Amazon’s proceeding full steam ahead with the rollout of its Appstore for Android. The switch has just been flipped and early adopters will be welcomed with a free copy of Angry Birds Rio, whose Android launch Amazon scooped all to itself. Beyond day one, Rio will be a $0.99 app, but others will take its place as the online retailer is aiming to serve one usually-paid app for free each day. A total of around 3,800 applications are available at launch and you’ll be able to get on board via either a dedicated Appstore app on Android (sideload link available below) or Amazon’s web interface. The latter offers you a 30-minute Test Drive facility, where you can try out a program you might fancy for your phone before purchasing. Service looks to be US-only for now — sorry, international users.
Update: The web Appstore has gone down. Don’t panic, we’re sure it’s just teething troubles and not a smiting by the Cupertino ninja collective. In the mean time, the app still looks to be working okay.
Continue reading Amazon Appstore for Android goes live, welcomes newcomers with free Angry Birds Rio
Amazon Appstore for Android goes live, welcomes newcomers with free Angry Birds Rio originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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