Posted by kenmay on October - 24 - 2011
Best Buy, Target, Walmart, The Shack, Apple. All of the above are now proudly selling the Square credit card reader , according to a tweet sent out by CEO Jack Dorsey . It’s great news for anyone willing to shell out a ten-spot in order to conduct business from their iOS device right away, rather than waiting between two and five days for a free one to show up in the mail. If you need one today , you’d best be calling up your local retail outlet to make sure they have some in stock. Square makes a larger mark on the brick-and-mortar scene, available in more outlets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Posted by kenmay on October - 21 - 2011
Psst. Hey, do you carry a spare Smart Cover around with you? Well, if you’re an unscrupulous sort, you can actually use it to bypass the lock screen of any iPad running iOS 5 . This multi-step security hole will let you browse whatever’s running behind the passcode screen, whether that’s email, apps or the homescreen. To take advantage of the flaw, hold down the power button on the locked device until the power off slider appears, then whip the Smart Cover on, open and tap cancel. Fortunately for iPad owners, the rest of the tablet remains locked-down, but the main problem here is any sensitive information left on-screen. If you unlock the tablet to the main screen, you won’t be able to open new apps, although anyone feeling particularly nefarious can apparently delete apps from that meticulously arranged home screen. See how it’s done in the video after the break. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Continue reading Smart Cover can unlock password-protected iPads running iOS 5 (video) Smart Cover can unlock password-protected iPads running iOS 5 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Posted by kenmay on October - 18 - 2011
Google has taken the stage in Hong Kong to make the next version of Android OS, nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich, a thing of reality. Better known as Android 4.0, the update offers a massive redesign to the user interface and adds a plethora of new features. Some of the highlights include an NFC-enabled feature called Android Beam , offline search in 7989*33Gmail, new lock screen features and a fancy unlocking method called ” Face Unlock ,” which uses facial recognition to ensure strangers can’t use your phone without permission. Ice Cream Sandwich also includes enhancements in almost every native app within Android itself. The SDK is already available for Android 4.0, and the update itself will make its first public appearance on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus , also unveiled tonight . After the break, we’ll cover all of the nitty gritty details, along with some excellent screenshots below. So come along, why won’t you? Gallery: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official Gallery: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Screenshots Continue reading Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now official, includes revamped design, enhancements galore originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Posted by kenmay on October - 18 - 2011
How to best view the Google Books collections? Why, a digital bookcase, of course. But this isn’t just any bookcase, it’s a giant spinning 3D helix of a bookcase, collecting more than 10,000 titles in 28 subjects. Users can navigate the WebGL Bookcase by spinning it around or swiping it up and down. Sure, it’s not the quickest way to locate a title amongst tens of thousands of books, but perhaps it’ll offer up some small consolation for those who miss browsing real-life bookstores. You can check out the experiment in the source link below — be forewarned, however, that it’s a bit of a resource hog. Continue reading Google thinks your digital books belong on a digital bookcase, digitally (video) Google thinks your digital books belong on a digital bookcase, digitally (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Posted by kenmay on October - 10 - 2011
And the Ultrabooks have arrived! We just got word that the Acer Aspire S3 will go on sale in the US and Canada this week for $899 — making it the first pinch-thin, MacBook Air competitor to hit the market, landing ahead of competing models from Toshiba, Lenovo and ASUS. To recap, this 2.98-pound aluminum beaut has a 13.3-inch (1366 x 768) panel, is rated for six hours (or 50 standby days!) of battery life and promises to wake from sleep in a mere two seconds. For the money, you’ll get an ultra low voltage Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM and 20GB of solid-state storage combined with a 320GB HDD. No word yet on how many additional configs will be available, though Acer did confirm that this $899 version will be followed by models with Core i3 and i7 processors and beefier storage capacity. Intrigued? Have a gander at our hands-on preview if you missed it the first time around, and find some fancy press shots below. Gallery: Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook Continue reading Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook hits the US and Canada this week, rings in at $899 Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook hits the US and Canada this week, rings in at $899 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Posted by kenmay on October - 10 - 2011
Last week, Myriad outed its plans to unveil Alien Dalvik 2.0 — which works on iOS — at CTIA , which starts today. But, knowing our readers would be champing at the bit to see it in action a little early, we got an exclusive sneak preview of the software for you right now . As a quick refresher, Alien Dalvik’s a custom bit of code that lets you run unaltered Android apps on a non-Android OS, like Maemo or MeeGo . This new version brings that same black magic to iDevices (and just about anything else), so head on past the break for more about Myriad bringing Apple and Android together in app harmony. Continue reading Hands-on with Myriad’s Alien Dalvik 2.0 on an iPad (video) Hands-on with Myriad’s Alien Dalvik 2.0 on an iPad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Posted by kenmay on October - 9 - 2011
It looks like Bookeen may finally be through teasing us — the company is preparing to unleash the Odyssey, a reader sporting its High Speed Ink System. The modified Pearl E Ink screen has been shown off multiple times, playing back video and browsing the web . Now it will finally make the transition from interesting tech demo to actual product. Better yet, the 6-inch, full motion-capable screen has been paired with a touch layer, which means it could deliver a tablet-like experience with battery life closer to a traditional e-reader. Underneath the hood is a an 800MHz Cortex A8 processor from Texas Instruments and a WiFi radio, presumably for downloading content and browsing the web. The Odyssey is expect to start shipping in Europe in the next few weeks, but Bookeen has yet to reveal a price. You can check out the machine translated PR at the source link. Cybook prepping Odyssey reader with High Speed Ink System screen originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
