Thursday, April 5, 2012

Your 2 hourly digest for Engadget

Engadget
Engadget
Ears-on with HD Voice on the Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE
Apr 4th 2012, 22:32

Image
So this definitely isn't your ordinary hands-on -- there's really no way to accurately capture audio coming through the earpiece in a mobile phone -- so, well, we'll just have to use our words. Sprint's just-announced HTC EVO 4G LTE is the first device to feature what the carrier has coined "HD Voice." The smartphone uses dual microphones, along with encoders and decoders to capture and transmit your voice from one equipped device to another -- that's right, for now, you and another caller will both need to be using this specific handset, paired with compatible network access points, which Sprint will begin rolling out shortly as part of its "Network Vision." We know what you're thinking: I don't use my phone as a phone. Sprint claims otherwise, however, saying that the network will handle 500 billion voice minutes this year alone. If you happen to account for any of those calls, there's certainly no harm in sharing your spoken word in 'HD.'

We hopped into a steamy sound booth at Sprint's NYC launch event today, speaking to an employee using HD Voice on the LTE EVO. The difference was clear, especially once he turned up the "background noise" on a demo music track, which we couldn't hear at all until the handset was moved within an inch or two of the speaker -- we can only imagine how this will play out on the audibly cluttered streets of New York City, which are definitely suited more for text than voice. The HD Voice experience was the same without any background noise at all, and just as impressive. You'll of course still be susceptible to ambient noise on the listening end -- after all, we needed to be in a near-silent booth to block out the sound around. Stay tuned for more detailed impressions in our full review closer to the device's May 7th pre-order date -- we patiently await an opportunity to listen more closely.

Ears-on with HD Voice on the Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

BBC Olympic coverage to include 24 live HD channels available on TVs, phones, PCs and tablets
Apr 4th 2012, 22:08

BBC Olympic coverage to include 24 live HD channels available on TVs, phones, PCs and tabletsThe BBC has home field advantage for the 2012 Olympics, and it's revealing more details about how it plans to broadcast over 2,500 hours of live sports on 24 channels that viewers can watch pretty much anywhere. Director Roger Mosey indicates it started out as a way to watch all 24 streams on the BBC Sport website via PCs or mobile devices, but has been expanded to offer the streams through television operators as well. So far Sky and Freesat are confirmed in, while Freeview users can punch up two extra channels via the program guide or red button. On this side of the Atlantic, the most recent news is that NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) will be right alongside the broadcast NBC channel (which has its own streaming plans in combination with YouTube) with a "record" amount of Olympic coverage. It could air as many as 300 hours of content from London, as well as some of the Olympic Trials. Hit the source links below for more details, we'll probably be hearing much more before the Olympic Flame makes its way to the stadium July 27th.

Continue reading BBC Olympic coverage to include 24 live HD channels available on TVs, phones, PCs and tablets

BBC Olympic coverage to include 24 live HD channels available on TVs, phones, PCs and tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBBC Internet Blog, Roger Mosey's Blog  | Email this | Comments

Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE preview (video)
Apr 4th 2012, 21:40

Image
What was the exciting new collaboration that HTC and Sprint's bigwigs just couldn't wait to tell us about? Anyone who's been following the smartphone scene at all as of late surely won't be surprised to find out that the one-time Nextel bedfellow is getting a member of the One family to call its own. It's just the precise name of the device that wasn't too predictable.

When the handset goes on sale sometime in Q2 for $199 it'll be saddled with the decidedly unwieldy moniker HTC EVO 4G LTE -- a rather clunky title for such a svelte device. What the name does offer, however, is a direct connection to the original EVO 4G. That phone, which arrived in consumer hands way back in June 2010, was branded as Sprint's first "4G" handset, courtesy of the carrier's WiMAX network. It's understandable, then, that its spiritual successor would carry that redundant 4G LTE moniker. The companies also clearly wanted to retain some of those happy memories, while setting the phone apart from those other One handsets on the market. How'd they do such a thing? Meet us after the break where we lay it all out.

Continue reading Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE preview (video)

Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceSprint  | Email this | Comments

Google updates Chrome Web Store with offline badges, subcategories and trending apps
Apr 4th 2012, 21:22

Google updates Chrome Web Store with offline badges, subcategories and trending apps
With Google tasking itself to organize all of the world's information, you'd think its own Chrome Web Store would be a bit easier to navigate. Apparently this revelation dawned on someone at the company, because it's just introduced several enhancements that should help users find new and useful extensions for their browser. Along with faster autocomplete searches and new subcategories, you'll now find badges that denote an application's offline functionality and games that can be played on Google+, with additional badges said to be in the works. There's even a new trending section, where users can discover recently popular titles that rank from "warm" to "on fire." If it's been a while since you've last visited the Chrome Web Store, now could be an ideal time to peruse the new features. You might even start a trend.

Google updates Chrome Web Store with offline badges, subcategories and trending apps originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceGoogle Chrome Blog  | Email this | Comments

Google takes you on a tour of the White House, still no sign of Lincoln's gold
Apr 4th 2012, 20:41

Image
With all of the hubbub around the race for the White House, have you ever wondered what actually lies behind the doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? With some help from Google, the first family is taking users on a tour of the famous residence without having to jump on the 'ole Megabus to the District of Columbia. Google Art Project has documented the White House's public areas with a 360-degree Street View-like tour of the presidential home. The White House is the latest tour in a list that includes 46 top galleries around the globe. You can check out a video introduction courtesy of Michelle Obama after the break, and click the source link to check out her digs.

Continue reading Google takes you on a tour of the White House, still no sign of Lincoln's gold

Google takes you on a tour of the White House, still no sign of Lincoln's gold originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ABC  |  sourceGoogle Art Project  | Email this | Comments

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions