| New Nike+ apps and shoes cater to basketball players and training athletes Feb 22nd 2012, 15:52 | Nike just keep building on its Nike+ brand, turning what started life as a glorified pedometer, into a full-fledged workout-tracking platform. Hot on the heels of the FuelBand comes Nike+ Basketball and Nike+ Training, two new experiences with their own dedicated footwear. For ballers, the Hyperdunk+ features a pressure sensor that measures speed, jump height and even abstract concepts like "hustle." It also features a ego Showcase mode that lets you superimpose workout data over video of you dunking and post it to the web. Nike+ Training, like almost every other workout app or digital accessory, turns getting in shape into a game. The app features a series of drills and challenges meant to improve speed, agility and strength, and your performance can be uploaded to a global leaderboard. The new apps and shoes, including the Hyper Workout+ for Women and the TR 1+ for men, will be available on June 29th in the US, UK, Germany, France and China. Head on after the break for one more image and PR. Continue reading New Nike+ apps and shoes cater to basketball players and training athletes New Nike+ apps and shoes cater to basketball players and training athletes originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | T-Mobile wants FCC to block Verizon's spectrum deals with cable industry Feb 22nd 2012, 14:54 | Call it sour grapes, posturing... whatever you want. The fact remains that T-Mobile has stuck its nose in the middle of Verizon's quest to bulk up its wireless portfolio. Big Magenta filed a request with the FCC on Tuesday, asking the regulatory agency to step in and block the transfer of AWS spectrum licenses from Cox, Time Warner, Comcast and Bright House to Verizon. The deals, which will cost the carrier roughly $3.9 billion, are already drawing interest from the Justice Department, which is concerned it'll place too much control in the company's hands. T-Mobile, the smallest of the nationwide carriers, is equally worried about the concentration of spectrum in Verizon's big red paws. Presumably, though, that has more to do with its inability to purchase it -- especially in the aftermath of the collapsed AT&T merger. Metro PCS and some public advocacy groups also voiced their opposition, while Sprint took a more measured approach, saying only that the FCC should look closely at the agreements. See, handset makers aren't the only mobile companies that can whip up a good legal drama. T-Mobile wants FCC to block Verizon's spectrum deals with cable industry originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  New York Times | Email this | Comments | | Samsung Rugby Smart gets rendered as it anxiously awaits our drops and kicks Feb 22nd 2012, 14:38 | Rugged phones seem to be the exception more than the rule when it comes to smartphones. However, AT&T apparently has one in the pipeline dubbed the Samsung Rugby Smart. Destined to be the latest addition to the lineup of Sammy's military-spec devices, the Smart will -- as you probably guessed -- be the first member of the Rugby family to ditch the clamshell form factor and take on Android at the same time. Pocketnow, which leaked the above press renders, also mentions that the device is slated to offer Android 2.3.5, 512MB of RAM, HSPA+ and a 1,650mAh battery. Nothing impressive, to say the least, unless there are a few other surprises that await us sometime in the (hopefully) near future. We still haven't heard a peep from AT&T, but word has it that when it's finally ready to storm shelves, we should expect to see it available for roughly $100. If we're lucky, maybe we'll even hear more about the Smart in, oh, the next week or so? Samsung Rugby Smart gets rendered as it anxiously awaits our drops and kicks originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | PocketNow | Email this | Comments | | ASUS gives Transformer Prime a bootloader unlock tool, Ubuntu promptly ported Feb 22nd 2012, 14:18 | Ah, it was indeed only a matter of time. Much like the way HTC caved into fan pressure, ASUS has finally released a bootloader unlock tool for its Transformer Prime TF201. Understandably, the tablet will no longer be covered under warranty once you set it free, but the other catch is that it needs to be running Ice Cream Sandwich in the first place as well. Not that it concerned modder littlesteve who promptly ported a partially-working Ubuntu over to his unlocked slate, pictured above. Steve says there's much work to be done yet, especially with enabling touchscreen support, so keep an eye on his tweets if you're itching to get a taste of his pie. Now, about that mysterious TF300T... ASUS gives Transformer Prime a bootloader unlock tool, Ubuntu promptly ported originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  SlashGear | ASUS, @littlesteve (Twitter) | Email this | Comments | | Flash roadmap reveals new features, improved GPU support, lack of retirement plans Feb 22nd 2012, 14:02 | Flash for mobile may just be a spectator at its own wake at this point, but the desktop browser plug-in is still alive and ( reasonably) well. In fact, Adobe has a host of plans for its flagship multimedia platform, as outlined in its 2012 roadmap. It all starts with 11.2, which should be landing sooner, rather than later, with support for right and left mouse clicks, multithreaded video decoding and improved GPU acceleration support. That will be followed by Cyril and Dolores, which will also expand the list of hardware-accelerated video cards, as well as improve overall performance and add a few welcome tweaks, like supporting keyboard input in full screen mode. Finally, in 2013, we'll see the debut of Flash Next -- a completely overhauled platform with major updates to the runtime core and ActionScript language that are designed to "meet the needs of developers over the next five to 10 years." Check out the source for full details but, be warned -- it's PDF only. Flash roadmap reveals new features, improved GPU support, lack of retirement plans originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink @stroughtonsmith (Twitter) | Adobe (PDF) | Email this | Comments | |
