Back to Mobile View
Engadget for iPhone - get the app now!
Engadget CES 2012

Latest Posts

All News
Reviews
Reviews

LG makes Optimus Pad LTE official, 8.9-inch IPS tablet coming first to South Korea

You've already seen this little guy in the wild, but LG has gone ahead and made its first LTE tablet very official -- ladies and gentlemen, meet the Optimus Pad LTE. The 9.3mm thin slate packs a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm CPU and an 8.9-inch 1280 x 768 IPS display, along with an 8 megapixel camera on the rear and a 2 megapixel option up front. Users can expect an SD card slot that supports modules up to 32GB, and there's also HDMI connectivity and DLNA certification for good measure. It's powered by a 6,800mAh battery, but out of the gate, it'll ship with Android 3.2 -- no word on when the latest Pad hopes to grab a bite of Ice Cream Sandwich. The Optimus Pad LTE's scheduled to arrive first in LG's home territory of South Korea, but for those interested in a more complete rundown, be sure to check the PR after the break.
READ MORE

BMW's Designworks USA, Thermaltake reveal Level 10 M gaming mouse concept

Themaltake and BMW's DesignworksUSA are apparently a design-team match made in PC gaming heaven. After previously partnering up for the elegant (and functional) Level 10 modular PC case, the two are back it again -- this time with a focus on peripherals. While details are sparse, the Level 10 M mouse concept you're looking at is the first of the bunch to be revealed, and it's said to arrive sometime during the spring. It's not exactly a shoe-in for MadCatz's Rats, but considering the wire and an aggressively breathable design, it's clearly aimed pro-gamers. Sadly, key specs like its DPI rating and details about any macro functionality are currently non-existent, however, it does appear to be of the optical variety. Here's to hoping it'll perform just as good at as looks to the eyes, and for now, hit up the press release past the break for a totally vague description.
READ MORE

Way-Go flashlight uses lasers to light your path, GPS to tell you where to go

We love just about anything involving lasers or robotics here at Engadget, so naturally, we're intrigued by Sriranjan Rasakatla's Way-Go flashlight that combines the two. It's comprised of ...

Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone case uses self-healing paint, won't un-crack your screen

Well hey there, butterfingers. Do your smartphone cases often slip from grip, hitting the deck and resulting in a bevy of tiny nicks that leave you self-conscious about your inability to maintain a firm grasp? Well, Nissan (yes, that Nissan) may just have an answer, in the form of a self-healing iPhone case. Naturally, the Scratch Shield protects your device from garnering unwanted blemishes, but it also features a polyrotaxane-based finish that helps maintain the case itself, covering over small scratches in as little as an hour. Nissan is keeping its magic paint on home turf for the time being, licensing the material to Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, though the Leaf-maker is also said to be considering a commercial launch later this year. Until then, you'll need to stay strong (gripped), though a self-mend solution may well be in your future.

Samsung wasn't interested in buying RIM, still isn't interested in buying RIM

Samsung already passed on webOS, and now, it's passing on RIM. The flagging handset maker was reportedly in talks with Samsung about a buyout, but according to a fresh Reuters report, Sammy's "not interested" in taking over Research In Motion. Samsung spokesman James Chun said the following: "We haven't considered acquiring the firm and are not interested in (buying RIM)." Why even respond to a rumor? Well, RIM's shares surged some ten percent at just the whisper, further proving that stocks in the digital age are little more than sophisticated gambling blocks when unfounded rumors are bandied about. So, that's that -- Samsung's not buying RIM, the sun's still warm, and RIM is still too far away from BlackBerry 10.

Fujitsu M532 tablet rears head in video, promises Ice Cream Sandwich and Tegra 3?

Fujitsu hasn't been a major player in the mobile race on this side of the pond, but it looks like the company's working to change that -- better late than never, right? Last week we spent some time with its "world's thinnest smartphone," the F-07D, and now TechFokus claims to have gotten its hands on a Tegra 3-packing tablet from the Japanese manufacturer that's supposedly set to launch in May. Aside from the aforementioned NVIDIA processor, the slate's also said to come equipped with an "HD" (1280 x 800) display, 16GB of onboard storage and the usual front and rear shooters, at 3 and 8 megapixels, respectively. The tablet, dubbed Stylistic m532, is expected to carry a €499 (around $630) price tag, and although it is currently rocking Honeycomb, it's expected to hit the masses adorned with Ice Cream Sandwich. By the looks of it, there's nothing to write home about here, but you can be the judge by checking out the video after the break.

[Thanks, Julian]
READ MORE

Verizon to sell $200 Droid RAZR, 16GB microSD card not included this time

The question of the day: is a 16GB microSD card worth $100? Verizon Wireless said it will sell the Droid RAZR for $200 with a two-year contract -- a $100 discount off the original price, ...

Screen Grabs: Serena's magically got herself an HP Envy 14 on Gossip Girl

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today's movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dot com.

We'd be lying if we said we were frenemies with Gossip Girl's goings-on (one of them's in the Pretty Reckless, right?). Fom the picture above, it looks like Serena van der Woodsen's shipping magnate father must have lifted this HP Envy 14 Spectre off the back of one of his shipments, given that the glass-built Ultrabook doesn't arrive in stores until February 8th. It wouldn't be the first time the show's squeezed in some unrealistic product placement: there was the time Serena had a SIM-card packing Verizon Droid X, or when someone had actually bought a Kin.

[Thanks, Ross]

Headphone-wearing pedestrian injuries triple as audiophiles stop noticing onrushing trains

The number of pedestrians injured or killed while wearing headphones has tripled in the last six years: 16 oblivious PMP users were offed in 2004, the number rising to 47 for last year. The ...

Yahoo's Jerry Yang quits the company he co-founded, walks away from Alibaba as well

The long, drawn-out, oftentimes melodramatic saga revolving around Yahoo itself and co-founder Jerry Yang is well-documented. Perhaps too well. Thankfully for us all, that ends today. As of January 17th, he has resigned from Yahoo's Board of Directors and all other positions with the company, and moreover, has resigned from the Boards of Yahoo Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding Limited. We most recently heard from Yang during his interview at AsiaD, where he sounded none too pleased about the going-ons there. We aren't about to draw links of Yang's exit to the hiring of Scott Thompson as CEO (in fact, Yang praises him in his exit blurb), but we are drawing links to his sudden purchase of a yacht, a new sauna and a round-the-round journey courtesy of Abercrombie & Kent. Kidding. In all seriousness, it's no surprise to see Yahoo's stock rallying, as many felt that Yang was the major roadblock holding up an outright sale or other significant shake-up within its ranks. As for Jerry? He's off to "pursue other interests" -- but we didn't need to tell you that, now did we?
READ MORE

HP appoints Bill Veghte as chief strategy officer, will lead 'cloud and webOS open source initiatives'

Bill Veghte was already having his checks cut by HP (after cutting ties with Microsoft), but now he'll be filling a slightly different corner office. The company today announced that he has been appointed chief strategy officer, but somehow, he'll also have enough time to hold onto his current role as executive vice president of HP Software. We're told that he'll be working with HP's senior business and technology brass in order to innovate in ways that perhaps it hasn't lately, with newly-appointed CEO Meg Whitman saying the following: "Every 10 to 15 years, fundamental shifts occur in the IT industry that redefine how technology is delivered. From mainframes to client/server to the internet, companies that identified the opportunity first and developed the right strategy came out on top. As we move forward, HP intends to stay on top, and I believe Bill has the knowledge and vision to keep us there." Strangely, the release (embedded in full after the break) mentions that Bill will be leading HP's "cloud and webOS open source initiatives," but it fails to elaborate on what exactly those "initiatives" may be.
READ MORE

Lamar Smith: SOPA markup to resume in February

Thought the White House was able to put enough of smackdown on SOPA to kill the bill entirely? You thought wrong. We'd heard that the extremely controversial legislation would be delayed until a few concerns were ironed out, and according to House Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smith -- the author of the bill -- markup is expected to continue next month, as soon as both parties return from their retreats. Let's just hope that the "consensus" between Congress and the White House makes the bill look different than what we saw prior to the holiday break. Check out the full press release after the break.

[Thanks, Brianna]
READ MORE

Apple patents clothes that track how you wear them, tell you when it's time to update your wardrobe

There's a huge problem with working out that has yet to be solved: when, precisely, do our workout clothes become too worn to wear anymore? Apple knows we can't be wasting endless minutes looking for holes and tears in our shirts and pants, so it's just obtained a method patent to let you know when your gear is past its prime. The patent claims sensor-equipped garments that can track how you use them, report that info back to a central database and alert you when the clothing has reached "its expected useful lifetime." (Read: it's time to buy some new, undoubtedly more expensive gym clothes.) This latest bit of IP doesn't just cover clothing either, Cupertino's claiming the same method for running shoes, too. The footwear bit also provides real-time feedback that compares your current running style to an established profile to keep your workouts consistent -- useful feature, that, though we can't imagine such iShoes would make the folks in Niketown too happy. We're not sure how Apple aims to make the needed wearables equipped with embedded electronics, but we can offer you plenty of typically broad patent legalese explaining the system that'll get you buying them at the source below.

Motorola planning 24-hour Droid RAZR Maxx longevity event for February 6th?

Motorola's own website has pointed to a January 26th launch for the long-awaited Droid RAZR Maxx, but it looks like February 6th is the date to really pay attention to. With battery life ...

Pink Samsung Galaxy S II makes UK bow on cupid's bow, is the new Godiva

Pretty in pink, isn't it?! Sammy's already slapped a bit of rouge on the casing of its über-popular Galaxy S II for denizens of South Korea, making that special edition available for ...

The Engadget Show returns Friday, January 20th!

Sleep? Ha! We may have spent the past 10 days or so rocking the Las Vegas Convention Center, but that doesn't mean it's time to rest on our over overtired laurels. Nope, we're back this Friday with the first Engadget Show of 2012, and it's going to be a fun one -- we'll be taking a look at the biggest gadgets, interviews and stories to come out of this year's CES and offering up all sorts of surprises.

Best of all, if you're in New York City, you can be a part of the live show -- just fire off an email to engadgetshow [at] engadget.com.

Here are the deets:
• The event is all ages.
• We'll open doors and begin seating at 5:15pm on January 20th, and the taping begins at 6:00PM. We'll be closing the doors at 5:50PM.
• Winners must confirm and print tickets 24 hours before taping begins or risk forfeiting their seat.
• Please bring a photo ID with you to the taping.
• The show length is around an hour.

If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Subscribe to the Show:

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
[Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V).
[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.

Google launches PSA-style 'Good to Know' ad campaign, wants to keep us safe

Google's no stranger to privacy-related controversy, which may explain the motivation behind its latest ad campaign. On Tuesday, the company will launch a series of ads across major newspapers, magazines and billboards, as part of its new "Good to Know" initiative, designed to make the internet "a safer, more comfortable place." According to Google, these ads will offer tips and advice on how to secure your personal information online, including details on how to protect your passwords from web predators. The entire campaign has a distinctly PSA flavor to it, though there's also a different subtext at work here, since Google is effectively branding itself as "the one you can trust." There are certainly some who would dispute that, but at a time when most privacy concerns are focused squarely on the government, it may be a good time for Google to crank up its PR machine. Find out more at the links below.

Microsoft introducing ReFS file system with Windows server 8

Hungry for a shiny new file system? Windows 8's got your back, or at least, Windows server 8 will. In his latest Building Windows 8 post, Steven Sinofsky introduces the Resilient File System, or ReFS, as a "next generation file system" built on the foundations of the NTFS. By reusing NTFS' API / semantics engine, ReFS hopes to retain a high level of compatibility with NTFS features. Underneath the existing semantics engine, the new file system introduces a new storage engine that hopes to protect against latent disk errors, resist data corruption, uphold metadata integrity, grant large volume, file and directory size -- and well, just build a better storage system in general. It's all quite complicated, but if you feel up to the technical snuff, click through the source link below.

Tango Networks offers cloud-based Google Voice integration to carriers

Tango Networks is aiming to assuage the pain of US mobile users attempting to manage two phone numbers using a single device. Dubbed the Abrazo Multi-line Service, the cloud-based product ...

Microsoft's Windows 8 hardware requirements: some good, some not-so-good

First, an apology: Microsoft released details of Windows 8's tablet hardware requirements back in December, but we were too preoccupied with Christmas and CES to notice. Now that the only thing we're suffering from is jet-lag, let's take a quick tour of some notable extracts from the documentation and what it'll mean for users when the operating system arrives towards the back end of the year.
READ MORE

Steve Wozniak loves iOS, except when he doesn't

We've heard this one before, only to have it debunked. Steve Wozniak sits down with foreign press, talks tech and has his words misconstrued; hair pulling and epic fanboy wars ensue. While we were able to deflate that troll bait rather quickly, this time it appears the Woz is guilty of an OS crush. According to The Daily Beast, the Apple co-founder (and connoisseur of Segways) goes on record as preferring many aspects of Android's fussier-but-deeper UI to iOS' one size fits all, simplified approach. Citing improvements in voice command software (sorry Siri, but he's looking at you), navigation and consistent performance, this other Steve seems to believe his company has a lot to learn from Google's dessert-themed mobile platform. Does word of Woz's wandering thumbs spell doom for Apple's all but gilded OS? We don't think so. As Kathy Griffin's former, fake boyfriend put it best, the iPhone 4S is for "users scared of computers." Which is to say, everyone and your mother.

Samsung commits to improve smartphone battery life in 2012

Sure, we all love having the latest and greatest smartphone from the likes of Samsung, but the power consumption driven by larger displays, LTE, and more use is making it increasingly ...

VantagePoint delivers 132 inches of multitouch to HP's business customers

HP VantagePoint
There are those out there that laugh at the idea of a 10-inch multitouch screen, and even some chuckle the thought of settling for a mere 40 inches. For those with such demanding requirements (primarily retailers and businesses), there's HP's VantagePoint. The main point of interaction with the video wall is six 47-inch Ultra-Micro Bezel displays that combine to offer 132 inches of diagonal real estate with a 4098 x 1536 resolution. That rather generous pile of pixels is pushed to the Gorilla Glass-fronted panels by a Z800 workstation, while a separate desktop is dedicated to audio and color processing. As you might expect, the set up doesn't come cheap -- businesses will have to cough up around $125,000 for the pleasure of such a beastly interactive installation. Check out the PR and data sheet at the source and some videos of it in action at the more coverage link.

iTunes Match launches in 19 more countries, shows Latin America some love from the cloud

iTunes MatchOnce Apple let the iTunes Match genie out of the bottle it has actually been pretty quick to spread the love to our international friends. Australia, Canada, the UK and a host of other European nations came online last month, now a sizable chunk of Latin America (along with a few EU stragglers) are joining the party. In total, 19 new countries were added to the list this week, headlined by Central and South American nations like Argentina, Guatemala, Venezuela and Nicaragua. With a few Eastern Block countries, including Lithuania and Latvia, also being added to the list, Apple has increased the total number states where iTunes Match is available to 37. Now Apple just has to start getting a few of the Asian and African areas where the iPhone is available on board and it can officially call Match a global service. To see if your country is invited hit up the more coverage link.

Shuttle rolls out bantam XH61 barebones PC, dares you to throw a Sandy Bridge at it

It's been a hot minute since we've seen anything compelling from the folks at Shuttle, but there's nothing like a Sandy Bridge-enabled, three-liter PC to get us back on the bandwagon. The ...
LATEST ISSUE! LATEST EPISODE!
Engadget's latest hardware and software reviews
Jan 5th 2012
Jan 5th 2012
Jan 4th 2012
Jan 1st 2012
Dec 27th 2011
Dec 27th 2011
Dec 21st 2011
Dec 21st 2011
Dec 20th 2011

Engadget Apps

Download a native Engadget app for the platform of your choice. If you want. No pressure.



January 2012
1
Jan 1st 2012
16 POSTS
2
Jan 2nd 2012
35 POSTS
3
Jan 3rd 2012
41 POSTS
4
Jan 4th 2012
50 POSTS
5
Jan 5th 2012
95 POSTS
6
Jan 6th 2012
56 POSTS
7
Jan 7th 2012
33 POSTS
8
Jan 8th 2012
97 POSTS
9
Jan 9th 2012
219 POSTS
10
Jan 10th 2012
176 POSTS
11
Jan 11th 2012
117 POSTS
12
Jan 12th 2012
85 POSTS
13
Jan 13th 2012
66 POSTS
14
Jan 14th 2012
22 POSTS
15
Jan 15th 2012
18 POSTS
16
Jan 16th 2012
30 POSTS
17
Jan 17th 2012
45 POSTS
18
Jan 18th 2012
0 POSTS
19
Jan 19th 2012
0 POSTS
20
Jan 20th 2012
0 POSTS
21
Jan 21st 2012
0 POSTS
22
Jan 22nd 2012
0 POSTS
23
Jan 23rd 2012
0 POSTS
24
Jan 24th 2012
0 POSTS
25
Jan 25th 2012
0 POSTS
26
Jan 26th 2012
0 POSTS
27
Jan 27th 2012
0 POSTS
28
Jan 28th 2012
0 POSTS
29
Jan 29th 2012
0 POSTS
30
Jan 30th 2012
0 POSTS
31
Jan 31st 2012
0 POSTS
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I will be attending college next year and figured that getting a tablet + keyboard combination to take to class instead of a netbook or small laptop would be a better idea. I was looking into getting the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, but my grandparents gave me an iPad 2 as a graduation present. A friend of mine is considering getting the Transformer, but doesn't want to pay $150 for a keyboard dock. Both of us will be using our tablets for essentially the same purpose and we were both wondering what the best wireless keyboard was for a tablet. Thanks!"
500,000
activations

The amount of Android activations per day.

According to Andy Rubin, 500,000 new Android devices are activated every day, and that number is continuing to grow. (source: Andy Rubin (Twitter), June 2011)

Samsung's first foray into Windows Phone 7 for the US market on AT&T.; Just how good is it?

Boss of the Year Entry Form

Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.

Tip Us