| Pantech Flex coming to AT&T on September 16 for $50, offers ICS and new 'Easy Experience' mode Sep 4th 2012, 13:30  We've already been alerted to the existence of a Pantech phone by the name of Flex, but we only got teased with the fact that it's heading to AT&T and will offer LTE connectivity and few (if any) other details. Fortunately, both the manufacturer and carrier are now ready to make the phone official, complete with images, pricing and availability. As you can see, the Flex is the device we leaked last week as the Magnus -- and it's actually much more unique than even the outer design would have us believe. First, the juicy specs: the Flex uses a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display and will run Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0). It'll be powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 SoC, and we'll be able to enjoy 8GB onboard storage, a microSD slot, 2MP front-facing cam and an 8MP rear camera capable of taking 1080p video. Finally, powering the device is an 1,830mAh battery. The Flex, which weighs 4.6 ounces and will be available beginning September 16th for $50 after a two-year commitment, also has another clever feature: dual Android skins. While the main UI should be standard fare for Pantech devices running ICS, the secondary skin is a simplified system dubbed the "Easy Experience" mode. According to the press release, the new system is meant to appeal to new smartphone users hoping to ease into the transition from featurephones without too much trouble, though going back and forth between modes shouldn't be terribly difficult. The announcement doesn't go into much detail pertaining to what you'll be able to do in Easy Experience (or exactly what makes it easier, aside from "[prioritizing] apps on the home screen in an easy-to-read format"), so we'll choose to remain intrigued until we hear more from Pantech or AT&T on how it works. In the meantime, we have a few press shots below showing off the new UI as well as a press release past the break. Continue reading Pantech Flex coming to AT&T on September 16 for $50, offers ICS and new 'Easy Experience' mode Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile Pantech Flex coming to AT&T on September 16 for $50, offers ICS and new 'Easy Experience' mode originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Popcorn Hour launches A-400 streamer for €289 with 'studio-quality' 3D video processing Sep 4th 2012, 12:37  If you're a streamer who shuns plastic disks and their ilk, but still wants 3D, there's good news: Syabas has announced the Popcorn Hour A-400 network media player. Thanks to a dual-core video processor, the box can mulch through 3D Blu-ray content (ripped, presumably), while also supporting studio-level features like detail enhancement and debanding. Like its A-300 predecessor, the streamer can dock a hard disk for content storage, and connects to your network via ethernet or optional WiFi. Other connections include an SD card reader, HDMI 1.4, eSATA and USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 (pending confirmation). On top of giving you access to your own content, the Syabas Apps Market brings YouTube, BBC's iPlayer, and 90 or so other free or premium channels. It'll hit stores in October with a €289 price tag, so if that sounds like your bag of popcorn, see the PR for more info. Continue reading Popcorn Hour launches A-400 streamer for €289 with 'studio-quality' 3D video processing Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD Popcorn Hour launches A-400 streamer for €289 with 'studio-quality' 3D video processing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Nokia Music free streaming service comes to US, available exclusively for Lumia handsets Sep 4th 2012, 12:09  Nokia Lumia owners on the other side of the pond have been rockin' out to the company's streaming service ever since Music launched during last year's Nokia World, but users in the US of A are about to get access as well. The Windows Phone handset maker just announced that Nokia Music will be available for US-based Lumia devices beginning today, with a US-based team of "musicologists" running the show. Users will have access to more than 150 playlists that span all major genres as part of an all-you-can-eat pro bono offering. There's also an option to create custom playlists with a Pandora-like feature that pulls in songs based on a selected artist and plays them back in random order, without advertisements popping in every few minutes. Playlists can be downloaded for offline listening as well. Officially, the app supports Lumia 900 and 710 handsets, and it can be downloaded from Marketplace today. Full details are in the PR after the break. Continue reading Nokia Music free streaming service comes to US, available exclusively for Lumia handsets Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile Nokia Music free streaming service comes to US, available exclusively for Lumia handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Nokia | Email this | Comments | | Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs Sep 4th 2012, 11:45  While some mind-control technologies may not amount to much more than gimmicks, there's also plenty of serious research being done in the field -- particularly when it comes to artificial limbs. So far, the majority of that work has focused on robotic arms, but a team of researchers from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, California have now made some progress with a robotic leg prosthesis controlled by EEG signals. As you might expect, things remain a bit limited at this point -- not amounting to much more than the ability to start and stop -- but the researchers say they've been able to achieve a 100 percent response rate with no "false alarms," and that the results are promising enough to begin tackling additional degrees of freedom like turning and sitting. What's more, while the system has so far only been tested on able-bodied individuals, the researchers hope that it will eventually be able to aid those with spinal cord injuries and aid in rehabilitation. You can get a quick look at it on video after the break. Continue reading Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs Filed under: Misc, Robots Researchers tout progress with brain-controlled robotic legs originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Technology Review Physics arXiv Blog | Email this | Comments | |
