Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Your 2 hourly digest for Engadget

Engadget
Engadget
AT&T lighting up three LTE markets on April 8th, Indiana and Texas feel the glow
Apr 3rd 2012, 20:24

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Muncie. Bloomington. Bryan-College Station. If you're in one of these three markets, get ready to party hard, because AT&T LTE is officially lighting up in your neck of the woods on April 8th. If you recall, there are nine previously announced markets still on deck waiting for their turn to bathe in the faster network, but AT&T is holding strong to its promise of an arrival "by early summer." For all of you getting it on Sunday, just make sure you party responsibly Saturday night, kay?

Continue reading AT&T lighting up three LTE markets on April 8th, Indiana and Texas feel the glow

AT&T lighting up three LTE markets on April 8th, Indiana and Texas feel the glow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  sourceAT&T  | Email this | Comments

Yamaha RX-V573 and RX-V473 receivers include AirPlay integration, 4K passthrough
Apr 3rd 2012, 20:02

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We don't spend a whole lot of time focusing on home theater receivers 'round these parts, but we do like AirPlay, and we're especially fond of audio devices that boast compatibility with the iOS wireless streaming tool out of the box. Yamaha's RX-V573 and RX-V473 are two of the latest mid-range audio mixers to ship with AirPlay integration -- a feature lacking from the company's past offerings -- along with compatibility with the AV Controller app, available for iOS, Android and the Kindle Fire. There's also a nifty 4K video pass-through feature, which won't do you much good at present, but may go a long way to future-proofing both devices. There's not much differentiating the models, save for a $100 gap in price ($450 for the V473, $550 for the V573), and 7.1 channel audio in the pricier model (you'll find 5.1 channels in the bargain offering). Both flavors include front-panel USB ports (also with iOS compatibility), four HDMI inputs and digital audio inputs, and 115 watts per channel. You can pick up either model now, and there's a more detailed list of specifications awaiting your gander in the PR after the break.

Continue reading Yamaha RX-V573 and RX-V473 receivers include AirPlay integration, 4K passthrough

Yamaha RX-V573 and RX-V473 receivers include AirPlay integration, 4K passthrough originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  sourceYamaha  | Email this | Comments

Windows 8 Metro-style Firefox comes out of hiding, still a diamond in the rough
Apr 3rd 2012, 19:44

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Defaults are king in the realm of tech. So forgive Mozilla for its naked ambition to be users' go-to browser of choice. The company, fully aware of Windows 8's slow, looming approach to market, has set its sights on that unclaimed slice of market pie, hunkering down into development of a Metro-style Firefox, announced just this past February. While the project remains in its infancy, the team has issued a progress report of sorts with accompanying screenshots, proving that its roughly hewn, proof of concept will work nicely with Microsoft's two-faced platform. Based on the Fennec XUL code, the project's already begun successfully integrating with the live tile flavor of that OS, implementing HTML file input controls, snap for managing multiple running apps, in addition to search and share contracts. If all goes according to the outfit's 2012 roadmap, we could be seeing a beta release hit sometime in the second half. Let's just hope Redmond gets its own stable of planned slates and PCs out to market first.

Windows 8 Metro-style Firefox comes out of hiding, still a diamond in the rough originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PCWorld  |  sourceBrian R. Bondy  | Email this | Comments

MetroPCS raises unlimited LTE data plan to $70, starts throttling others
Apr 3rd 2012, 19:23

MetroPCS raises unlimited LTE data plan to $70, starts throttling others
Enjoying those quick, all-you-can-browse speeds on your LG Connect 4G? Well, it looks like soon you'll have to shell out a bit more cash to hold onto that beloved unlimited service. Earlier today, MetroPCS laid out the scheme to hike the pricing on its no-limits LTE offering, adding an extra $10 to the monthly fee. As for the others, the new $60 plan will now be capped at 5GB of LTE data, while the lesser $50 and $40 deals are set to include 2.5GB and 250MB, respectively -- both of which are said to get a multimedia streaming throttle at 1GB on the former and 100MB on the latter. MetroPCS says you shouldn't worry, though, and that things "like Facebook, web surfing, etc., should continue to be solid." Good thing "solid" is unambiguous, right?

MetroPCS raises unlimited LTE data plan to $70, starts throttling others originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceFierceWireless  | Email this | Comments

Motorola Xoom WiFi now seeing Android 4.0.4 update over-the-air
Apr 3rd 2012, 19:02

Motorola Xoom WiFi update
We'd been told it was incoming, and come it has. Those still in possession of Motorola's Xoom WiFi tablet can now look forward to another bragging right: Android 4.0.4. According to Droid-Life, the new Ice Cream Sandwich update is rolling out right now to select owners over-the-air, with the new code bringing quicker screen rotation, a new setting to "immediately lock the screen," improvements on the camera and a few other minor advancements. Eager to get it yourself? Head to Settings > About tablet > System update, and be sure to let us know how it goes in comments below.

Motorola Xoom WiFi now seeing Android 4.0.4 update over-the-air originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDroid-Life  | Email this | Comments

Facebook fights back, countersues Yahoo
Apr 3rd 2012, 18:43

Facebook fights back, countersues Yahoo
Surprise, surprise, Facebook has decided to sling a lawsuit Yahoo's way after the latter first filed a patent infringement action against Zuckerberg's crew a few weeks ago. According to Florian Mueller over at FOSSPatents, the social network's alleging some IP infringement of its own -- claiming that Yahoo has run afoul of ten of its patents. The patents in question cover myriad technologies, ranging for ad placement and information arrangements on web pages to privacy controls for managing what info is shown to individual users and instant messaging using email protocol. Just another ho-hum legal battle between tech behemoths here in Silicon Valley, folks, with mere millions of dollars at stake. But, if you're yearning for more, you can read the full complaint at the All Things D source link below.

Facebook fights back, countersues Yahoo originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista  |  sourceReuters, All Things D, FOSSPatents (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Shazam 5.0 update identifies audio in a split second, helps tortoise hands become the hare
Apr 3rd 2012, 18:41

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Fits of inspiration are usually inopportune -- like when you realized eight years too late that it might've been wise to invest in Google. The same goes for that panicked impulse that strikes somewhere between rocking out to the last dregs of a song as it spills out of the radio and the time it takes for you to locate your phone, unlock it and launch Shazam. Well, for those of you slow on the draw, the company's making its music identification service a whole lot quicker. Now, iPhone and iPod touch users can track down artist info from music or TV in a literal second, courtesy of a software refresh. It's all part of a 5.0 update, available now, for the outfit's trio of apps -- Free, Encore and (RED) -- that also adds a new UI, the ability to comment on tags via social networks, as well as additional language support for South American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Korean. So the next time you hear a track you swear was your jam in the mid-90's, you'll know in a heartbeat precisely which Dishwalla album to download and secretly cherish. Remember them? Official PR after the break.

Continue reading Shazam 5.0 update identifies audio in a split second, helps tortoise hands become the hare

Shazam 5.0 update identifies audio in a split second, helps tortoise hands become the hare originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ComScore: Android's US market share passes 50 percent, BlackBerry OS and WP7 slide
Apr 3rd 2012, 18:24

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Another month, another round of ComScore's US mobile studies. For the three-month average period ending in February 2012, 234 million Americans age 13 and older were found to be using mobile devices, with Samsung having its products in the hands of 25.6 percent of the American mobile market. Behind it came LG (19.4 percent, dropping from 20.5 percent), Apple (13.5 percent, a 2.3 percentage point increase), Motorola (12.8 percent, down from 13.7 percent) and HTC (6.3 percent, a 0.4 percentage point increase).

Overall, 104 million people were deemed smartphone owners, representing a full four million person uptick since just last month. Over on the platform side, Android managed to surge from 46.9 percent in November of 2011 to 50.1 percent, while Apple rose from 28.7 percent to 30.2 percent at the expense of RIM and Microsoft; those two managed to lose between two and three percent of their market share over the same period, but we're guessing the tide will turn for Microsoft as soon as that hotly-anticipated Lumia 900 gets to shipping. Eager for more charts and call signs? Head on down to the source.

ComScore: Android's US market share passes 50 percent, BlackBerry OS and WP7 slide originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceComScore  | Email this | Comments

ViaSat Exede review
Apr 3rd 2012, 18:00

ViaSat Exede review
Broadband in the boonies has long been an unreasonable ask. As slack-jawed farmers are fond of telling lost tourists "Ya can't get there from here," broadband-starved country bumpkins have heard from cable companies, "We don't offer service in that location." Options have been few, like paying said cable company thousands to run some copper a few miles down the road, or making a second mortgage payment for a dedicated T3 line.

Over the years satellite internet has been offered as an alternative for broadband in places where bears do their business, but as we've seen it's never really worked. Bandwidth has been low, latency high and pricing on the tall side of average have made services like WildBlue and HughesNet untenable to all but the most dedicated wilderness lovers.

Now a new player approaches, and the offerings certainly sound compelling. It's called Exede from ViaSat and it promises speeds of up to 12Mbps down and 3Mbps up -- comparable to your average household "broadband" connection. However, with monthly fees ranging from $50 to $130 depending on how much data you need, this has the potential to be considerably more costly. Worth it? Put on your best pair of overalls then click on through to find out.

Continue reading ViaSat Exede review

ViaSat Exede review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Four HUBOs 'Come Together' for a Drexel Engineering MET-lab demo
Apr 3rd 2012, 17:43

Four HUBOs
Robot Beatles cover band? Check. Students at Drexel University's Music and Entertainment Technology Lab (MET-lab) have developed software that allows HUBO robots to create tunes following a musical score. The Roboband plays the song without human control during the performance -- a demo that combines humanoid tech and creative expression research. Four HUBOs jam the arrangement of the Beatles' "Come Together" by MET-lab student Matthew Prockup on Ringo's mini-kit and three "Hubophones." Drexel and seven other universities in the States are part of a humanoid research collaboration with KAIST, the designer of the HUBO robot.

Four HUBOs 'Come Together' for a Drexel Engineering MET-lab demo originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDrexel Engineering (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Sprint LG Viper 4G goes on pre-order April 12 for $100, release date still TBA
Apr 3rd 2012, 17:24

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Sprint's finally starting to get the ball rolling with its first LTE devices, announcing this morning that it's ready to begin pre-orders of the LG Viper 4G on April 12, and the next-gen goodness can be yours for $100 (after $50 mail-in rebate). The actual release date wasn't specified, but at least we know this means it's coming up much sooner rather than later. As a refresher, the Viper comes with Gingerbread, a 4-inch WVGA NOVA display, a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8660 Snapdragon S3, 1GB of RAM, NFC and Google Wallet functionality, a microSD slot, 50GB cloud storage from Box and a smattering of eco-friendly features. For the full rundown, gaze upon the press release below.

Continue reading Sprint LG Viper 4G goes on pre-order April 12 for $100, release date still TBA

Sprint LG Viper 4G goes on pre-order April 12 for $100, release date still TBA originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amazon Instant Video app for the PS3 brings both Prime subscriptions and VOD along
Apr 3rd 2012, 17:17

Amazon Instant Video app for the PS3 brings both Prime subscriptions and VOD along
While Amazon has continued to grow both its video on-demand and all you can eat Prime Instant Video services content-wise, playback on the TV is still limited to relatively few devices. You can add a major one to the list however, since the app has just started popping up on the PlayStation 3, as pointed out above by Joystiq. While the Xbox 360 has always supported the downloadable files brought over from PCs since the days of Unbox, beyond the Roku boxes and a limited selection of Blu-ray Players and HDTVs, the PS3 is immediately the service's most widely available connected TV platform. If you're looking for it, it should pop up right below competitor Netflix under the video services tab the next time you power on your console.

Update: PlayStation.Blog has posted some official information, hit the link below or check out a video demo embedded after the break.

Continue reading Amazon Instant Video app for the PS3 brings both Prime subscriptions and VOD along

Amazon Instant Video app for the PS3 brings both Prime subscriptions and VOD along originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceJoystiq, PlayStation.Blog  | Email this | Comments

TomTom confirms leap year bug is affecting a 'limited number' of GPS devices
Apr 3rd 2012, 17:07

TomTom confirms leap year bug is affecting a 'limited number' of GPS devicesHas your TomTom GPS let you down over the past few days? Then it looks like the company may have pinpointed your problem. It confirmed today that a leap year bug is preventing at least some models from obtaining a GPS position -- something that has apparently been occurring since March 31st. Exactly which GPS devices are affected isn't clear, with TomTom only saying that a "limited number of models" have been experiencing the problem. Unfortunately, the company doesn't have a permanent fix just yet, but it says that a hard reset of the device will temporarily resolve the issue if you find yourself in a pinch. Instructions to do that can be found at the source link below (you can also sign up to be notified when the permanent fix is available).

TomTom confirms leap year bug is affecting a 'limited number' of GPS devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink BBC News  |  sourceTomTom  | Email this | Comments

Instagram for Android hands-on
Apr 3rd 2012, 16:40

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By now, you've got to be familiar with Instagram. Sure, you may have never used the app, which until mere minutes ago had yet to make its way beyond iOS, but you've surely seen the results, in tweets, emails or littering your Facebook feed. And beginning this very moment, you can join in on the fun, even if you've never owned an Apple device. We took instantly to Instagram for Android -- the app offers an experience nearly identical to the iOS version, though the ability to capture and manipulate images on a larger device brought a unique twist to the wildly popular image manipulation experience.

We decided to start off our snaps with a Samsung Galaxy Note, which not only offers a brilliant 1280 x 800-pixel display, but also a 5.3-inch surface on which to frame images and preview filters. Beyond the enormous variety of capture tools now available, it seems that not much has changed -- your favorite filters are still there, making those smartphone shots glow just as brilliantly as before. And, if you happen to despise the Instagram effect, this would probably be a good time to take that long-planned holiday from social media -- if it hasn't already, your screen is about to explode with colorful perfect squares of image funk goodness.
Update: It appears that the Android version has yet to add the selective focus tool available in the iOS app. You can, however, brighten up the image and add or remove a frame.

Instagram for Android hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceInstagram (Download)  | Email this | Comments

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LG LS831 goes back to FCC, reveals 5MP camera, Sprint intentions
Apr 3rd 2012, 16:34

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Sprint's been kept pretty quiet on the Windows Phone front, but it looks like the Now Network is getting back into the game. Well, at least soon. The LG LS831 has made a return visit to the FCC, this time showing some visible hardware. That includes a Sprint-only 800MHz CDMA radio (with support for 1900 MHz), a front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel primary shooter on the back. Now that the FCC's given its nod of approval, we can start the guessing game for what Sprint will eventually christen the device.

LG LS831 goes back to FCC, reveals 5MP camera, Sprint intentions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceFCC  | Email this | Comments

Instagram comes to Android, available to download now
Apr 3rd 2012, 15:44

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We've waiting for what feels like forever, but the Android contingent can finally carry on with life knowing that at least some things are (semi) fair. Yes, Instagram is now available for Android. Keeping with tradition, the app itself is free to download, and the outfit seems overjoyed with finishing up what it's (accurately) calling "one of the most anticipated releases on the Android platform to date." It's also clear that the team has done more than a simple port, and while the exact same filters will be found here as on the iOS version, the team has worked to make the app responsive and fluid on Android's vast landscape. We are told, however, that there are a few features that will not be included in the first version of the Android app (Tilt Shift / Blur, Share from Feed, Live Preview and Share to Flickr), but upcoming versions are intended to bridge any differences.

For now, any phone running Android 2.2 or above (with support for OpenGL ES 2) is compatible, but Android tablets are not. There's a maximum resolution support of 2,048 x 2,048, and the company assures us that the "exact same filters and algorithms are implemented on both [iOS and Android builds], so there is no difference in the output other than the raw image quality that differs between phones." Eager to get going? Head to Play on your device, or visit the source link below.

Continue reading Instagram comes to Android, available to download now

Instagram comes to Android, available to download now originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceGoogle Play, Instagram  | Email this | Comments

Google voting patent democratizes restaurant choices, Top Model eliminations
Apr 3rd 2012, 15:39

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Let's imagine you're both fortunate enough to have nine friends and you want to take them all out to dinner... tonight! So you send them all an invitation message, but the restaurant you've picked offends half of them for some reason. You suggest something else, and the other half object, making it a drawn-out and painful process. Worse still is that all of the SMS cross-talk is going to eat into your plan unless everyone's signed up to ChatOn. Instead, wouldn't it be great if you could just text four options in a single text message and let good old-fashioned democracy work its plan-saving course? Well thanks to the patent that Google was granted today, perhaps in the future you'll be able to do exactly that. Just remember that if you always want to get your own way, make sure both your voting group and choices are heavily biased in your favor, you wouldn't want to get dragged out to the Cabbage Soup Shack by accident, would you?

Google voting patent democratizes restaurant choices, Top Model eliminations originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceUSPTO  | Email this | Comments

Sony Xperia S, P and U to visit America, Brightstar to buy the tickets
Apr 3rd 2012, 15:05

Sony Xperia S, P and U to visit America, Brightstar to buy the tickets

Sony may be readying the Xperia Ion for US shores, but we haven't heard any news yet on whether the phone-maker's NXT family of phones will ever visit all those states. That's where Brightstar comes in. The wireless distributor has announced that it'll be offering up the Xperia S, P and U -- but hasn't yet offered up any concrete dates or specific markets. This means we may see the three Sony phone appearing on smaller, possibly lesser-known carriers -- Brightstar mentions its "regional and local expertise." The distributor's excitable press release is right below.

Continue reading Sony Xperia S, P and U to visit America, Brightstar to buy the tickets

Sony Xperia S, P and U to visit America, Brightstar to buy the tickets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocketnow  |  sourceBrightstar  | Email this | Comments

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