Reality Bites
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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Japan may need five years to rebuild from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that has caused up to $235 billion of damage, the World Bank says.
Almost two weeks ago, discussions arose in the Neowin forums as to whether Google was planning to change their Google Chrome logo to a more simplistic design.
Well, today it has been announced that indeed they are now going to start pushing the new design and those who have been using…
Having trouble with your Gmail in China? Google politely requests that you blame the government, not the company. For several weeks now, users in China have been complaining about glitches within the popular mail program. When Google’s engineers looked into the issues, they discovered that the Chinese government was the source of the problem. “Relating to Google there is no issue on our side… This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail,” a Google spokesperson told The Guardian.
Strangely enough, the news comes almost a year to the day after Google announced that it would start redirecting Google.cn users to Hong Kong Google, having discovered that the Chinese government had hacked into a number of human rights activists’ accounts. This latest activity comes on the heels of a Chinese Internet crackdown meant to control the information relating to the popular uprisings in the Middle East. Skype, meanwhile, has been blocked since December. With the recent launch of a state-owned search engine, perhaps it’s not inconceivable that Google will be the next to go.
Chinese Government Messing With Gmail, Google Says originally appeared on Switched on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
New study links masturbation and prostate cancer
Xbox Kinect on PS3 is Kevin Butler’s worst nightmare come true (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Remember that massive security vulnerability that Adobe identified in its Flash Player, Acrobat and Reader software? Well, shockingly enough, it hasn’t yet taken over the internet and ground productivity to a halt, but Google’s been proactive about it and patched the flaw by itself. Of course, the fix applies only to its own Chrome web browser, Firefoxes and Internet Explorer types will have to wait for Adobe’s fix, which is expected any minute now. Still, it’s good to know someone’s looking out for the security of our data, even if that someone already has access to most of it anyway.
Google patches Flash vulnerability in Chrome, leaves other browsers hanging originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 09:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Work is still underway on an Android version of VLC Media Player, the open source, cross-platform media player that plays just about any kind of file you throw at it, and a beta is expected within a month or two.
This new time frame is pushed back quite a bit from what we’d heard in December, when it was said to be coming in a matter of weeks. In an interview with a German site on March 19, VideoLAN board member Rémi Duraffort provided some detail about why it has taken longer than expected:
“Unfortunately, VLC uses some features from the libc that Bionic does not implement. For this reason we had to add workarounds to be able to compile and run VLC Media Player. It requires time as some of these workarounds are a bit complex.”
That’s not a reference to the Droid Bionic, but to Bionic, Google’s custom C compiler library for Android.
The app is expected to run on Android 1.5+, but will make special use of new audio and video APIs for devices running Gingerbread or higher.
Source: Handy-sparen.de
VLC Media Player for Android in 1-2 Months originally appeared on AndroidGuys.
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Motorola announced earlier that their XOOM Wi-Fi tablet will be available in Canada this April, but was very discreet about the pricing. Thankfully our friends over at Future Shop were not. They have put the Android 3.0 Honeycomb powered XOOM up for pre-order at the cost of $599.99 with an “Estimated release date: 04/08/2011″. Thanks […]
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While we’ve yet to see other Honeycomb tablets materialize in the shops after the Xoom, news has it that ASUS is about to debut its Eee Pad Transformer back in its home country this Friday. There’s still no final pricing to be seen for this Tegra 2 device, but some of our watchful readers have already spotted the stricken-through $799 label — in US dollars, oddly enough — on ASUS’ Transformer countdown page on Facebook, and hopefully this price tag will cover the docking kit as well. Anyhow, anxious Android fans will be able to order this peculiar 10.1-inch slate — in 16GB or 32GB flavor — later this week, so that Taiwanese pen pal of yours will finally come in handy.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: We just heard from our ASUS rep here in the US and it looks like the Transformer will be hitting the US market in early April. No word on pricing yet, but we will keep you updated.
ASUS to debut Eee Pad Transformer in Taiwan this Friday, Honeycomb confirmed (updated: coming to US in early April) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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After needing to release a second Release Candidate just over a week ago, Mozilla have finally signed off on version 4.0 and made it available to the public ahead of the official launch date of March 22.
The Firefox website has yet to be updated, but we expect this will happen…
We’ve been anticipating Ruairi Robinson’s evil robot short Blinky™ for years! Wait no more, the full short's out for public consumption! Watch it now, and don't worry — your kids are perfectly safe! Plus a musical short with Doug Jones! More »
Share Contacts is a free app that gives Android users an easy way to send and receive contacts via SMS with others (even if they don’t have an Android device). More »
