Thursday, May 17, 2012

Your 2 hourly digest for Engadget

Engadget
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Rogers and CIBC make joint deal for NFC mobile payments in Canada, let you check out with your BlackBerry
May 17th 2012, 06:43

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Canadians sometimes can't catch a break: while NFC payments have been relatively common for Americans, Europeans and certainly the Japanese, Canucks have had to largely make do paying with ye olde credit carde. Rogers and national bank CIBC want to put an end to these antediluvian ways: starting later this year, CIBC card holders will just need to swipe an NFC-equipped BlackBerry like the Bold 9900 (Bold 9930 for CDMA-loving Americans) at a matching terminal to pay at a given store. The only special requirement is a secure SIM card that gives customers the freedom to change phones, even if it does create problems switching banks or carriers down the line. We're just hoping that Android and other platforms get the same treatment and let more of our Canadian friends pay for poutine that much faster.

Continue reading Rogers and CIBC make joint deal for NFC mobile payments in Canada, let you check out with your BlackBerry

Rogers and CIBC make joint deal for NFC mobile payments in Canada, let you check out with your BlackBerry originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 02:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC confirms One X multitasking tweaks in Sense 4
May 17th 2012, 06:19

HTC confirms One X multitasking tweaks in Sense 4

There's been quite a bit of brouhaha over at xda-developers lately about changes HTC's made to the way multitasking behaves on the One X compared to stock Ice Cream Sandwich. We're not just talking about obvious UI tweaks here -- Sense 4's horizontal, card-like arrangement vs. Android 4.0's default vertical list -- but actual differences in memory and task management. While we're not running into any problems with our One X review unit, some users have noticed that background app are getting terminated too aggressively, so we reached out to HTC for comment. Here's what the company said:

HTC is aware of some questions in the enthusiast community about how the HTC One X handles multitasking and memory management for background apps. We value the community's input and are always looking for ways to enhance customers' experience with our devices. That said, multitasking is operating normally according to our custom memory management specifications which balance core ICS features with a consistent HTC Sense experience.

There you have it. HTC's definitely implemented some multitasking tweaks on handsets running Sense 4. Perhaps this is why battery life is so impressive on AT&T's One X? While we don't believe this is going to be an issue for most users, there's always the option of installing custom ROMs now that the phone's been rooted.

HTC confirms One X multitasking tweaks in Sense 4 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 02:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple slips out new OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion beta, leaves 2007 MacBook Pro in a momentary lurch
May 17th 2012, 05:32

Mountain Lion Dev Preview

Apple looks to be stepping up the frequency of OS X Mountain Lion beta updates after initially keeping the pace slow and steady: it just posted a new, unceremoniously titled 12A206J build for developers. What the update fixes in the Developer Preview isn't clear, but there are still glitches with Fast User Switching, Java applets, sharing menus and Notes syncing with iTunes, among a handful of other showstoppers. There's also a major heads-up for those who own mid-2007 MacBook Pros, as they can't properly run Mountain Lion at all until another update. We wouldn't be surprised if there's another fix in store ahead of WWDC next month, and there's still all of the summer left for Apple to put the final polish on the OS and make its release target.

Apple slips out new OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion beta, leaves 2007 MacBook Pro in a momentary lurch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 01:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plastic Logic shutters US offices, gets out of making its own e-readers
May 17th 2012, 05:11

Plastic Logic 100

Plastic Logic has something of a rollercoaster history, having had to drop the QUE proReader before it even shipped and getting a $700 million cash injection that ultimately swung its attention to Russian schoolchildren. Unfortunately, the UK company's dreams of a self-branded e-reader are closing down along with its US branch. About 40 jobs are being cut in Mountain View, California, along with a smaller amount at its still-active British, German and Russian offices. The reduced headcount swings the focus to supplying e-paper screens to other companies, several of which are currently in talks. We're never fans of job cuts, but there is a silver lining to this cloud: the company's new flexible color e-reader screen could show up in more devices than it would have otherwise.

Plastic Logic shutters US offices, gets out of making its own e-readers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 01:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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