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Back to BlackBerry closing time

Time's up. I've now had a full month to call the BlackBerry Z10 my very own and use it as my everyday device. I've had the opportunity to use it in every likely scenario, including a nine-day trip to Spain for Mobile World Congress. Now comes the moment of truth: have I become a BlackBerry convert? Is the Z10 my new daily driver?

Unfortunately, it's not. But before the BlackBerry fan base breaks out the torches and forms mobs, this isn't a denunciation of the phone or its OS. Quite the opposite, in fact. I decided to pursue this experiment for a few reasons: it's the best way to learn a brand-new operating system, I genuinely am interested in how well it handles regular day-to-day use and a month gives me plenty of time to form a solid idea of the platform's potential and future. Is it possible to have a great deal of admiration for a phone while simultaneously rejecting it as my daily driver? Yes. After the break I sum up the highlights of BB10: what works, what doesn't and what simply needs a little nudge or two.

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Engadget Expand agenda unveiled Come see the full schedule for our big event!
Over the past couple of months we've been letting you know about the awesome speaker lineup for Expand, our big event that's just around the corner at San Francisco's Fort Mason on March 16th and 17th. Now you can check out the full agenda of sessions and speakers who will be gracing our stage for two days full of in-depth discussions about the frontiers of technology.

From 3D printing to crowdfunding, from robots to space (and undoubtedly some robots in space) and more, you're not going to want to miss the Expand experience. And if you're looking for even more reasons to attend Expand, how about 10 of them? Go on and pick yourself up a full pass for the weekend and get a free six month subscription to Make Magazine to boot.

See you at Expand!

And don't forget...

  • We now offer day pass options for folks who can't make it out for the entire weekend
  • Join us for Insert Coin winner voting on March 16-17!
  • If you're a company that would like to work with us on an exhibition or sponsorship level, please drop us a line at sponsors at engadget dot com (DIYers and small startups, please ask us about our Indie Corner option!)
  • If you're a member of the media interested in covering Expand, please contact engadget at shiftcomm.com for more information.

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Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology.

This is the Modem World: The dark side of Google Glass

I want to be excited about Google Glass -- I really do. I saw Robocop as a kid and dreamed that, one day, I too could walk around with a HUD that would feed me information on call, receive messages and record the world around me.

But now that years have passed and I've witnessed humanity worship the smartphone, make prevalent voice-controlled navigation and perfect self-mounted, POV digital video cameras, I'm not so sure that Google Glass is going to be good for us as a society. There is a dark side to what appears to be a wonderful coming together of complementary technology, and I'm here to poop this party.

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Bird poop and big screens Attempting a multiplayer world record

There's no category in the Guinness World Records for the most players in a single-screen multiplayer game. However, that's likely to change soon thanks to a group of New York University graduate students who created SPLAT, a multiplayer game designed for the 120-foot video wall installed in the lobby of the IAC building on the west side of Manhattan. The screen is a Prysm laser phosphor display and sports a whopping resolution of 11,520 x 1,080 pixels. The game was debuted at a packed showcase event last Friday night, along with the work of other students from an NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program class appropriately called Big Screens.

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Engadget Expand speakers, Round Eight Nine big reasons to join us March 16 and 17
If you've been following along with our speaker announcements for Expand, you know we've already got a lineup chock full of some of the most interesting technologists at the forefront of innovation. You'll also appreciate that this last batch is a bit of a doozy -- consider this the big reveal before the Big Reveal of the full agenda, coming very soon:

  • Nate Mitchell: Vice President of Product, Oculus Rift
  • Jason Parrish: Director, Lenovo ThinkPad Strategy & Planning
  • Hod Lipson: Professor of Engineering, Cornell University
  • Tamar Yehoshua: Director of Product Management, Google
  • Ujesh Desai: Vice President of Product Marketing, NVIDIA
  • Bob Heddle: Director, Kinect for Windows at Microsoft
  • John Wilson: Vice President, Systems Product Group, Razer
  • Corinna Proctor: Senior Research Manager, Lenovo User Research Center
  • Jim Denney: Vice President of Product Marketing, TiVo

Here's why else you need to be at Expand...

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Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.

Hey, we never said our favorite things were practical. This week, Darren tells us why his $125 shoulder bag was worth it, while Jason defends his decision to purchase an 82-inch 3DTV at 2AM (no he wasn't drunk -- we don't think, anyway). Rounding things out, Jon doesn't generally like super-sized phones, but he can't help but enjoy the Galaxy Note II. Read on to find out why.

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Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

DNP Inhabitat's Week in Green tktktkt

Silicon Valley dominated this week's news cycle, beginning with Yahoo's announcement that it will no longer allow employees to work from home. Some are crying foul, however, pointing out that Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer recently installed a nursery in her office, and that unlike most mothers, she's allowed to bring her child to work. But while Yahoo's announcement may have ruffled some feathers, Google gave greenies reason to smile, as it announced plans to build a jumbo, green-roofed expansion at the tech giant's Mountain View headquarters. Not to be outdone, Samsung unveiled plans to build a garden-filled, eco-friendly Silicon Valley headquarters of its own.

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Welcome to The After Math, where we attempt to summarize this week's tech news through numbers, decimal places and percentages.

The After Math Barcelona's mobile bonanza, Big Dog and brain doctors

Barcelona's Mobile World Congress may have formed the backbone for this week's news but there was also notable news elsewhere -- like the fact that Boston Dynamics' upgraded quadruped robot can now throw cinder blocks. We'll be sticking closer to the (safer) events in Spain, however, so take a look for yourself after the break.

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Ever expanding smartphone screens

It used to be that any smartphone screen beyond three inches was considered big -- and it was, for an audience still weaning itself off of flip phones and PDAs. Flash-forward several years, however, and we're to the point where many won't even consider less than a 4-inch screen, and the once-unfathomable 5-inch display is quickly becoming the de facto standard for high-end models. It's clear that many of us like our phones supersized, Zack Morris style. But when the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate is a reality, and Mobile World Congress or future events may push the boundaries even further, there's still a worry that the focus on successively bigger displays might have gone too far. Have we pushed too hard for more glass? Or are we witnessing a wholesale shift away from the smartphone as we once knew it? There's truth to both sides. Follow along as we look at how smartphones have swelled over time, and how we're learning to love (or cope with) their dimensions.

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Mobile World Congress 2013 best of show

Another Mobile World Congress has come and gone. While we weren't treated to a mountain of device launches, as seen in previous years, we definitely all came away with some favorites. LG outed a few handsets, HTC's One made its first public appearance and Firefox OS made a grand entrance with additions to the new platform from a few different handset makers. And, on the wireless side, we were treated to what has to have been the biggest NFC love fest we've ever witnessed. Follow on past the break to check out some of our favorites from this year's MWC, then weigh in and let us know what you think about the show.

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