Tech Today w/ Ken May

While Spotify has had little trouble cranking up its subscriber base so far, one feature that has notably been lacking is its radio / auto playlist feature. Today (tied in with an appearance by CEO Daniel Ek at LeWeb 2011) that’s been upgraded, as the freshest preview builds move the Radio section down among the new Spotify Apps, where it now lets you drop in any song from your library for it to automatically create a radio station of similar music around. Subscribers not interested in upgrading yet can find similar functionality tied to Spotify’s library with the EchoFi tool, but this venture represents the service’s debut of an “all-new intelligent recommendation engine” meant to dig the tracks you want out of its millions-deep library. Advertising “unlimited skips” is a clear jab at Pandora, but it’s not immediately clear if you’ll still need a premium paid-up account for truly unlimited listening (well, maybe not). Hit the source link to grab a Radio-enabled preview build and see if some algorithm can defeat even the mightiest Yacht Rock playlist crafted by our own Brian Heater.

Spotify Radio feature turns into an app, offers Pandora-like stations with unlimited skips originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spotify Radio feature turns into an app, offers Pandora-like stations with unlimited skips

Geomagnetic storms are probably most famous for generating especially vibrant aurorae — some of the most breathtaking natural light displays on Earth. But these storms also give rise to all manner of electromagnetic interference across the radio spectrum — interference that gets picked up and measured by equipment here on Earth, like Canada’s CARISMA radio array. More »

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A haunting audio/visual representation of a geomagnetic storm [Video]

Continue reading Has James Bond gone green? Bulletproof electric roadster in the works

Has James Bond gone green? Bulletproof electric roadster in the works originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 05:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Has James Bond gone green? Bulletproof electric roadster in the works

angry tapir writes “Broadcom is working on a Bluetooth chipset that will give wireless keyboards a battery life of up to 10 years. If they had a battery life of as long as 10 years, that Bluetooth-based accessories could potentially never need new batteries, the chip maker said. A set of two AA batteries would be enough to power a keyboard using the BCM20730 Bluetooth chip to connect with a computer for its entire lifetime, Broadcom said.”

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Bluetooth Keyboards With a 10-Year Charge Promised

Look, games like Fruit Ninja can be addicting and all, but we’ve many times pondered what playing a proper title — the kind intended for the latest consoles and PCs — would be like on a tablet or smartphone. Of course, we’ve seen some fantastic results from Tegra 3 and been notably impressed by Infinity Blade 2 on iOS, but starting today, OnLive is set to one-up the limitations of locally run mobile games with its new app. Whether you’re using an Android, iOS device or even a Kindle Fire, you’ll now be able to play games from the OnLive ecosystem while you’re on the move over 3G, LTE or WiFi, rather than merely spectating in OnLive Viewer. Better yet, the OnLive app itself is completely free and any games purchased can be used across devices, and currently, 25 titles have been optimized for touch-based controls, including a tweaked version of L.A. Noire. HOwever, if you’re more inclined to use tactile controls you’ll be pleased to know that the company also has a soon to be released, revised version of its wireless controller.

Outwardly, the updated controller is looks identical to the outgoing MicroConsole pack-in model, but this one connects to Macs, PCs and just about any mobile device thanks to new “adaptive wireless” technology. Those seeking extra low latency can use its bundled USB dongle to link up to four of the controllers and a single Bluetooth headset for voice chat with one PC. The gamepad’s media controls can also navigate iTunes in addition to playback of Brag Clips within OnLive. When it debuts, you can expect to pick one up for about $50 (£39.99 in the UK). OnLive CEO Steve Perlman was kind enough to walk us through using this new bit of kit, so head on past the break for our full impressions and to see the controller in action.

Continue reading OnLive intros apps for iOS and Android, refreshes its wireless controller, we go hands-on (video)

OnLive intros apps for iOS and Android, refreshes its wireless controller, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OnLive intros apps for iOS and Android, refreshes its wireless controller, we go hands-on (video)

Sure, you may already lead an exciting life, but wouldn’t it be great if you could broadcast those daily escapades — you know, to all of your internet friends? ZionEyez hopes to deliver a method for sharing your point of view — quite literally — in realtime, across the web. The company’s first product, a set of 720p embedded-camera eyeglasses called Eyez, houses a tiny camera to the left of the standard-size eyeglass lens, with a processor, Bluetooth and WiFi module embedded in the adjacent ear piece. We first read about the inconspicuous specs when the company launched a Kickstarter page, netting nearly $350,000 in pledges from curious backers, but just had an opportunity to spend a few hours with the device, recording the journey to a meeting in New York City. Jump past the break for a closer look, and our sample footage.

Continue reading Eyez 720p video streaming / recording glasses hands-on (video)

Eyez 720p video streaming / recording glasses hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eyez 720p video streaming / recording glasses hands-on (video)

itwbennett writes “Antivirus firm Sophos acquired a passel of USB sticks lost by commuters on trains in the Greater Sydney metro area at an auction organized by the Rail Corporation New South Wales. The company analyzed 50 USB sticks and found that not a single one was encrypted and 33 of them were infected with at least one type of malware.”

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Two-Thirds of Lost USB Drives Carry Malware

One of the true giants in the tech industry is Intel. Despite the ascendance of their rival, ARM, in the mobile sector, Intel is unmatched in processor and molecular-level computing R&D. They are years ahead of others in the business and likely will be for some time. But that doesn’t mean that an occasional upstart can’t stand up to them in a small but significant way.

SuVolta, a new company based in Los Gatos and only in the public eye for six months, has created an alternative to a certain Intel chip-making technique that could improve the system-on-a-chip production and significantly decrease power consumption. Their partner, Fujitsu, has just demonstrated the technology in a super-low-voltage SRAM chip, showing that the technique is very far from vaporware.

It’s always extraordinary when a small company (SuVolta has around 50 employees) can take on a multi-billion dollar one, even more so when the larger company maintains its dominance by its immense spending on research staff and facilities. But SuVolta is lucky in the respect that their invention does not require such a high level of investment. Or not lucky, rather, but very shrewd.

Their tech, in brief, is a new technique for producing transistors called Deeply Depleted Channel, and it’s a different material stacking method that allows for an even lower voltage to be used to reliably power the gate. In Fujistu’s demonstration, a small SRAM cell that would normally take 1V to power successfully ran with just 0.425V. Power savings of over 50% on such a low level are hugely significant.

Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, the DDC method of producing transistors is compatible with existing chip-creation infrastructures and designs. This means that SoC manufacturers won’t have to spend billions refitting their factories to create bigger dies or accommodate smaller transistor sizes; after all, reliably producing structures 25 nanometers across is no easy matter, and the machinery necessary to do it is incredibly expensive. By allowing for this huge improvement in power consumption rates but minimizing the cost of deployment, SuVolta is saving companies billions and nullifying to some extent some of the billions spent by Intel.

DDC only goes so far, but it’s an extremely valuable and powerful asset for a young and small company like SuVolta to have. They’ve branded it Powershrink, but there’s no indication of when products built on the technique will hit the market.

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Transistor Tech Startup Takes On Intel With Powerful New Chip Creation Technique

[Thanks, Omar]

NVIDIA rebadges GeForce 500M chips in preparation for Ivy Bridge release in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA rebadges GeForce 500M chips in preparation for Ivy Bridge release in 2012