El Paso resident finds Mexican Orbiter Mini drone in his front yard originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When the Optimus 2X was announced a few days ago, North America was conspicuously left out of the nebulous launch plans mentioned in the press release — but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not coming. RCR Wireless says it has it on “rather good authority” that LG’s beastly Tegra 2-powered Android phone will in fact see a US launch, and that said launch will be on T-Mobile in late February (which would be right after MWC) or early March. Considering how aggressively T-Mobile has been pushing Android dating all the way back to the G1, we tend to believe it — and between the dual-core processor, HSPA+, and the promise of a Gingerbread update in the works, this could easily hang with the HTC Mechas and Motorola Olympuses of the world (likely launching on Verizon and AT&T, respectively) over the next few months.

LG Optimus 2X coming to T-Mobile USA by March? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know that Verizon FiOS iPad app we spied back in August, the one that streamed TV and VOD content? Nope, still not here — check back 2011. Want to use your Apple slate as a giant remote for your (HD) set-top box, browsing TV / VOD listings and remotely programming DVRs? Set parental controls and bookmarks, even update your STB names? Look no further than the iTunes store; all it’s gonna cost you is 3MB of space.

Verizon FiOS Mobile app hits iPad, a virtual remote with no streaming in sight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point, we all have a serious question to ask: is there anything the Kinect can’t do? While Microsoft has managed to move quite a few of the camera-laden tubes, a good amount of ‘em have been put to use in applications not named gaming. Take the Virtopsy Project, for instance. This particular setup uses the Kinect camera bar to control a PACS system (OsiriX, in this case), and it relies on software based on “ofxKinect, libfreenect and open frameworks.” That’s a lot of technobabble for sure, but as they say, the proof is in the YouTube video. Ever dreamed of swirling medical images around with hand gestures? Head on down and mash play — fantasyland awaits.

Continue reading Kinect admits itself to hospital, treated for gesture control of medical images

Kinect admits itself to hospital, treated for gesture control of medical images originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Say hello to the future of DVRs, at least from Comcast, as its as-yet unannounced Xfinity Spectrum box passed through the FCC’s database shortly after having its existence revealed by the Wall Street Journal. A quick peek at the production-ready manual reveals there’s plenty of new features here, including a new guide design including IMDB-style cast & crew info as well as access to internet services. While it’s hardware makes this Pace RNG-210n a 500GB HD DVR with four tuners, MoCA and IP access, one of the biggest changes is a software makeover means it pops up notifications prompted by your Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Configurable at Xfinity.com/Spectrum, it looks like it will only pull in information when people you follow share pictures, video, or link to info about TV shows and movies, with “most” viewable right on the box itself, plus the option to share what you’re watching on those services. There’s less details available about that “apps” section of the menu but weather, traffic, music and games are promised, take a quick peek at the most interesting sections including a look at the guide, remote and box in our gallery or check out the FCC filings yourself for more details — it’s hard to tell if the changes will make all our issues with cable provided set tops go away, but pretty much any new guide has to be better than what’s there now, right?

[Thanks, cypherstream]

Comcast’s quad-tuner Xfinity Spectrum DVR with internet access revealed by the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading US Navy’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System launches first fighter jet (update: video!)

US Navy’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System launches first fighter jet (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading ZigBee finalizes low-power, RF standard for input devices, could finally kill off IR for good

ZigBee finalizes low-power, RF standard for input devices, could finally kill off IR for good originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, this is certainly an interesting, if not bewildering rumor. Obviously, we’ve heard that HP is working on webOS tablets for 2011 — it’s planning to double down on Palm OS, remember? — but our friend Clayton Morris at Fox News has heard that some of these PalmPads could be coming as early as CES in just two weeks. So, what’s said to be coming? Apparently, HP will introduce three tablets based on webOS 2.5.1, but the very puzzling part is that they will be “spin-offs” of the HP Slate, and as you can see in the image above, are said to look almost identical to the current Slate. Yeah, it even seems like that Ctrl + Alt + Delete button and slide-out certification tab are still present, though we’re told there’s also a Pre-like “multi-switch.” We’re highly skeptical of that image being a true render of the hardware since it’s exactly the same as older HP Slate service manual line drawings (check one out below), but according to the report, the trio of PalmPads will be thinner than the iPad with rounded edges, pack Sprint 4G connectivity, weigh 1.25-pounds, have both mini-HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, and at least one will have a 9.7-inch display. Also, just like the HP Slate, there’ll be two cameras — a front-facing 1.3 megapixel lens and a 3 megapixel rear-facing unit. Lastly, there’s said to be a straggling fourth tablet aimed at university students, though it apparently won’t be on hand at CES.

We’re obviously very intrigued by the specs — USB 3.0, really?! — and the fact that HP may not change the look and feel of the Slate all that much, but we’d be very very surprised if this were all to happen at CES. Firstly, we’ve heard a number of times that HP wasn’t planning to release a tablet until later in 2011, and to wait this long to simply slap webOS into the HP Slate’s shell seems almost foolish. What’s more, repurposing the Slate means HP either ported webOS to Intel and threw battery life out the window, or completely swapped out the Slate’s Intel-based internals for an ARM chipset without changing the exterior design at all. Needless to say, both options seem like completely inefficient and muddled ways to get a tablet onto the market.

On top of all that we feel obligated to point out that we’ve yet to receive an invitation to any sort of HP / Palm event at CES — in past years, we’ve received invitations to both Palm and HP events long before the middle of December — and we’ve been reliably informed that HP’s floor presence at the show is smaller than in recent years. That just doesn’t seem like you’d blow out a huge four-device tablet launch, does it? Rest assured that we’ll clear our schedules for an HP / Palm event in a second, but something about an early January reveal just isn’t adding up right now.

Nilay Patel contributed to this post.

Continue reading Three HP Slate-like webOS tablets coming at CES? We’re not so sure.

Three HP Slate-like webOS tablets coming at CES? We’re not so sure. originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When first announced, we had fears that the new NVIDIA GeForce GT 500M-series graphics would be little more than a tweak of a clock speed here and a new sticker there, as the specs of the 540M (96 CUDA cores, 128-bit memory interface) match the 435M series bit-for-bit. But, a Notebook Journal review of the first laptop to bear NVIDIA’s latest, the Acer Aspire 5742G, finds that the performance boost is tangible. “Much stronger,” even, scoring 8315 points in 3DMark 06 — a good bit higher than the 435M scores we’ve seen. The laptop otherwise is said to be quite a powerhouse, with a massive 8GB of DDR3 memory onboard, but it’s a gentle machine too, Optimus letting the thing run cool and long (up to five hours on a charge) when you’re not getting your frag on. Indeed it’s deemed the most powerful notebook you can buy for €700, and while that translates to roughly $920, we’ll have to see what Acer decides to charge when it comes Stateside.

[Thanks, Markus]

Acer Aspire 5742G laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphics reviewed, es ist schnell originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lookin’ to straddle the fence with your next laptop purchase? Or maybe you’re just lookin’ to conserve battery life when not picking off enemies in Counter-Strike. Either way, Digital Storm’s new xm15 (not to be confused with Alienware’s M15x) can satisfy the yearning, as the $999 base configuration comes equipped with a 2.4GHz Core i5-520M, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB HDD and NVIDIA’s GT 425M (1GB). Naturally, Intel’s integrated graphics chipset is also included for less demanding times, and if you’re in need of a little more oomph, a $1,086 build jumps to a 2.53GHz Core i5-540M and a $1,367 model steps up to a 2.8GHz Core i7-640M. ‘Course, far nicer editions are available if you’re got the cash to customize, but we’ll leave all that between you and your wallet. And whoever fills your wallet.

Continue reading Digital Storm’s xm15 gaming laptop rolls with NVIDIA’s Optimus

Digital Storm’s xm15 gaming laptop rolls with NVIDIA’s Optimus originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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