PDA, Smartphone Raves

Sep 03 2010

NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 3:17 am

Perhaps the worst, and least repairable, shortcoming of touchscreens is their failure to act as viable game controllers. Keyboard-equipped smartphones alleviate that pain a little (particularly if you pair them with a Game Gripper), but ultimately we’d all prefer real controllers for our real games. Such was clearly the thinking behind the homebrewed setup here, which combines an HTC EVO 4G — with Android and an NES emulator inside — with an Arduino board, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, and a classic NES control pad. The result might look like a mess of wires, but who cares when you can rock Super Mario 3 the way Nintendo surely intended?

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NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: Android, Controller, Into, overlord, pressed, Service, Video

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Sep 03 2010

Philips unveils new PicoPix pico projectors

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 2:17 am

Our friends at Engadget en Español have turned us on to some pico projecters that recently popped up on Philips’ Flickr account. We don’t have too much info, other than they are designated (in no particular order): PPX-1430, PPX-1230 and PPX-1030. And they’re really rather small. Yeah, we’re underwhelmed too. But we must report even the least breathtaking gadgets: it’s our meat and potatoes, after all. And you can bet your bubby that if Philips does relate any mind-blowing information at this year’s IFA (which is going on as we write this), we’ll let you know. Oh, you want more pictures? Well, here you go!

Gallery: Philips unveils new PicoPix pico projectors

Philips unveils new PicoPix pico projectors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: Philips', Pico, PicoPix, projectors, Unveils

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Sep 03 2010

Samsung’s 50-inch 720p PN50C490 3D plasma on sale now for under a grand

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 1:18 am

Looking to spoil yourself with a fancy new 3DTV? Ain’t got the cash to go all-out? Hello, compromise. Samsung’s 50-inch PN50C490 — which we peeked just a few weeks ago — is now shipping from Amazon, Best Buy and a slew of other local consumer electronic marts if we had to guess. As a refresher, this mid-sized HDTV has a 720p resolution, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, no internet connectivity to speak of, a USB socket, three HDMI inputs, a pair of component jacks and support for the third dimension. It’s up for grabs today at just $989, but you’ll probably want to budget a few extra hundies for that Samsung 3D Starter Kit (not to mention a few 3D Blu-ray Discs).

[Thanks, James]

Samsung’s 50-inch 720p PN50C490 3D plasma on sale now for under a grand originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: 50inch, 720p, Grand, plasma, PN50C490, sale, Samsung's, Under

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Sep 03 2010

NVIDIA GTX 470M highlights rollout of 400M mobile GPU series

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 12:17 am

Not everybody needs the world’s fastest mobile GPU, so NVIDIA is sagely trickling down its Fermi magic to more affordable price points today. The 400M family is being fleshed out with five new midrange parts — GT 445M, GT 435M, GT 425M, GT 420M and GT 415M, to give them their gorgeous names — and a pair of heavy hitters known as the GTX 470M and GTX 460M. Features shared across the new range include a 40nm fab process, DirectX 11, CUDA general-purpose computing skills, PhysX, and Optimus graphics switching. 3D Vision and 3DTV Play support will be available on all but the lowest two variants. NVIDIA claims that, on average, the 400M graphics cards are 40 percent faster than their 300M series counterparts, and since those were rebadges of the 200M series, we’re most definitely willing to believe that assertion. Skip past the break for all the vital statistics, and look out for almost all (HP is a notable absentee, while Apple is a predictable one) the big-time laptop vendors to have gear bearing the 4xxM insignia soon.

Continue reading NVIDIA GTX 470M highlights rollout of 400M mobile GPU series

NVIDIA GTX 470M highlights rollout of 400M mobile GPU series originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: 400M, 470M, Highlights, Mobile, NVIDIA, rollout, Series

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Sep 02 2010

Ringtone creationism banned iTunes 10, but DIY still seems to work

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 11:17 pm

Not that we’ve ever been a fan of paying an additional 99 cents to turn an already-purchased track into a seconds-long ringtone, but if you fancied the option in iTunes 9.2.1, we’re sad to inform you that yesterday’s update seems to have nixed said option. But hey, look at this way, now you can learn a new skill: how to make iTunes 10 ringtones free of charge with some filename finagling. The old method still seems to work just fine (instructions via More Coverage link below), so turn that .m4-frown upside down!

Ringtone creationism banned iTunes 10, but DIY still seems to work originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: banned, creationism, Itunes, Ringtone, seems, still, work

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Sep 02 2010

Toshiba Places to deliver web content across all Toshiba screens

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 10:18 pm

Great devices aren’t great without content and if you want it done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself. For Toshiba that means a new online content and services portal called Toshiba Places. The point of this companion software is to ensure that all said company’s screens have a similar look and feel which will bring a consistent experience to every size screen while still being optimized for a TV or mobile phone (for example). Places will help you gain access to your own content or share it in your social networks as well as offer access to applications and various other online content. Exactly what premium content is available wil vary region by region and so until the US announcement comes we’ll have to wait to learn which of our favorite sources will be included.

Continue reading Toshiba Places to deliver web content across all Toshiba screens

Toshiba Places to deliver web content across all Toshiba screens originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: across, Content, deliver, places, Screens, Toshiba

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Sep 02 2010

iFixit continues its retro gaming rampage, reduces an innocent Atari 2600 to bare components

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 9:17 pm

iFixit, is no device safe from the scars of your screwdriver? These eyes have been scarred, forced to witness the destruction of yet another childhood icon. Previously it was the RCA Studio II and the Magnavox Odyssey 100 before that. Now it’s the rather more memorable Atari 2600 going under the scalpel, four simple screws removed to reveal an eight-bit, 1.19MHz processor featuring 128 bytes of RAM (yes, a massive 1,024 bits) and a graphics adapter capable of 192 x 160 resolution with 128 colors — though only four could be used on any given line. Through these humble beginnings the cartridge-based console was born… and now here it rests.

iFixit continues its retro gaming rampage, reduces an innocent Atari 2600 to bare components originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: 2600, Atari, bare, components, continues, gaming, iFixit, innocent, rampage, Reduces, Retro

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Sep 02 2010

Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 8:17 pm

Besides that Android tablet, Toshiba’s brought a whole slew LED-lit LCD televisions to IFA 2010. The REGZA WL Series is the company’s first range of 3DTVs, available in 40-, 46- and 55-inch sizes (pictured above) with LED backlighting, 7,000,000:1 contrast ratios, it 3D Resolution+ upscaling tech and one pair of active shutter glasses bundled with each one. They’re also DLNA enabled and ready for Windows 7, with the Toshiba Media Controller software making streaming content as easy as dragging and dropping a file. The rest of the lineup includes the high end VL series with LED backlighting, midrange REGZA 42SL738 42-inch HDTV and edge-lit SL738 series LCDs in smaller sizes from 9- to 32-inches. Check the press site or YouTube trailers embedded after the break for more details, and don’t be surprised to see the 200Hz motion technology, millimeter measurements, DVB-T tuners and BBC streaming while these are due in October across the pond, we’ll be keeping an eye out at CEDIA for US-bound variants.

Continue reading Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010

Toshiba goes all LED with new HDTVs at IFA 2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: 2010, Goes, HDTVs, Toshiba

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Sep 02 2010

Samsung Galaxy Tab rooted, just for bragging rights

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 7:18 pm

Okay, Sera-Apps, we’re happy you cracked the Milestone, but now you’re showing off — rooting the Samsung Galaxy Tab probably a full month before launch. Do you really want Samsung to have time to patch those holes? That’s what we thought. Now, go enjoy your Superuser status, and please save some exploits for the rest of us.

Samsung Galaxy Tab rooted, just for bragging rights originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: bragging, Galaxy, Just, rights, Rooted, Samsung

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Sep 02 2010

Shocker! Google’s Android logo boosted from Atari Lynx title ‘Gauntlet: The Third Encounter’

Category: Industry Happenings — admin @ 6:18 pm

Back in the early 90’s whilst playing our Atari Lynx — friendless and alone, of course — we couldn’t have imagined that a second-rate spinoff of the popular Gauntlet franchise would unlock the secrets behind the birth of Google’s Android OS. But, lo and behold, what has one of our faithful tipsters found down here, amongst the ruins of Gauntlet: The Third Encounter? That’s right, nearly irrefutable proof that the Android team (or at least its graphic designers) have plumbed the depths of Epyx’s not-quite-masterpiece for the iconic droid logo we’ve come to know and love. Sure, the top-down scroller provided all kinds of new character classes like the “Nerd,” “Punkrocker,” and “Pirate,” but only one of these fresh faces would provide the blueprint for Android’s public face. It’s hard to argue that there isn’t some level of appropriation here, given the multiple similarities between the two pieces of art, right down to the antennae, dotted eyes, general size and shape, and even the strip which cuts across the midsection of the bot. Oh yeah, and the character is named Android. We personally would like to hear what Google has to say for themselves in regards to this blatant theft of intellectual property, and as for the Epyx artists who slaved over a hot Amiga to bring this image to life — the taste of sweet justice is yours.

Gallery: Android / Android transformation