Gitmo Nation Update: Coupon Code on Facebook

Kontron preps first Tegra 3-based Mini-ITX board, homebrew gets an ARMfulBy Jon Fingas posted Jul 15th 2012 at 11:35PMBelieve it or not, there's a potentially cheaper (and more customizable) way to get NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 into your life than to spring for a Nexus 7. Kontron is readying a rare Mini-ITX motherboard, the KTT30, that combines the ARM-based chip with expandable RAM and a trio of mini PCI Express slots for expansion like a micro SATA drive or a 3G modem. The external ports are more the kind you'd find on a do-it-yourself x86 PC, too: full-size HDMI, USB and even Ethernet make a show at the back. The only hurdles are an unusually throttled back 900MHz processor speed and, quite simply, the lack of release details. Kontron hasn't promised more than a release "coming soon" -- with much more complete Tegra 3 devices now hitting the $199 mark, though, we can't see the KTT30 putting much strain on any budding hobbyist's wallet.FanlessTech, Blogeee (translated)Kontron5Leave A Comment20How would you change the Nokia Lumia 710?By Daniel Cooper posted Jul 15th 2012 at 10:47PMFeatureWhile Nokia's Lumia 710 may have been imagined as the Jan Brady of the Lumia line, this supposedly awkward middle child does plenty of things right. In fact, for everyone outside of the smartphone hardcore, it'll serve you very well at a far lower price than the better-looking (yet similarly specced) 800. That said, does it really need to exist? Would you pick this over the cheaper 610, the better designed 800 or the LTE-packing 900? That's the question we're asking you today -- if you were bending Stephen Elop's ear off about his trials and triumphs, what would you say about the 710, and more importantly, what would you change?137Leave A Comment10Refresh Roundup: week of July 9th, 2012By Zachary Lutz posted Jul 15th 2012 at 9:00PMYour smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in ...6Leave A Comment01Ceton Echo Extender for Media Center beta to start in SeptemberBy Ben Drawbaugh posted Jul 15th 2012 at 8:16PMIf you're one of the lucky few -- 1000 actually -- who received an email today from Ceton you will have the ability to join its paid Extender beta this September. For $179 Ceton will ship ...Read the full post on hd.engadget.com9Leave A Comment30Google gently tweaks offline experience for Docs, rolling out to Drive users nowBy Darren Murph posted Jul 15th 2012 at 7:27PMYou asked for it (probably), and Google delivered (definitely). Once you've enabled Docs offline within Google Drive -- you have, right? -- you'll be able to both create and edit Google documents and view Google spreadsheets sans a live internet connection. But now, Google's massaging the interface in order to automatically filter only offline docs while you're disconnected. Furthermore, those who'd like to preview which files are available offline while still online, you can tap More -> Offline Docs in the left navigation pane. Google's saying that it'll roll out to "all Drive users over the next few days," so hopefully your data plan will get last you till then.Google26Leave A Comment37Switched On: Android's TV Triple ThreatBy Ross Rubin posted Jul 15th 2012 at 5:30PMColumnsEach week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.Just two years ago, Google TV paved a way for Android to enter the television via integrated sets, Blu-ray players, dedicated TV add-ons and pay TV set-top devices. For now, the product may almost be as much of a hobby for the purveyor of questionable eyewear as Apple TV is for Apple, Google's mobile OS competitor. But it's clear that the platform isn't all things to all couch potatoes; the last several weeks have seen the launch of two new, contrasting approaches to getting Android on the big screen in the home.READ MORE134Leave A Comment810Richard Branson confirms Virgin Galactic's first space tourism flight will launch next year with him on boardBy Donald Melanson posted Jul 15th 2012 at 4:10PMRichard Branson has long said that he'd be on board Virgin Galactic's first commercial space tourism flight, and he's now confirmed that will take place sometime next year with his two adult children along for the ride (a bit of a delay from the company's original 2011 target).

That trip will of course be made with the company's SpaceShipTwo craft, which has already completed a number of test flights, and which is capable of flying 100 kilometers (or just over 60 miles) above the Earth for a planned two and a half hour flight with five minutes of weightlessness. As the AP notes, some 529 people have already signed up for the $200,000 per person rides into space, each of whom will have to take part in a week of training prior to their trip. Booking's can still be made on Virgin Galactic's website.The VergeAP (Yahoo News), Virgin Galactic138Leave A Comment12256C-Spire debuts pre-paid tablet and hotspot plansBy Terrence O'Brien posted Jul 15th 2012 at 2:42PMAs far as regional carriers go, C-Spire is a pretty big deal. Which makes it all the more surprising that the company hasn't offered standalone pre-paid data plans until now. The southern ...Read the full post on mobile.engadget.com19Leave A Comment58France's ANDRA developing a million-year hard drive, we hope our badly-written blogs live in perpetuityBy Jon Fingas posted Jul 15th 2012 at 1:55PMUs humans have been quick to embrace digital technology for preserving our memories, but we've forgotten that most of our storage won't last for more than a few decades; when a hard drive loses its magnetism or an optical disc rots, it's useless. French nuclear waste manager ANDRA wants to make sure that at least some information can survive even if humanity itself is gone -- a million or more years, to be exact. By using two fused disk platters made from sapphire with data written in a microscope-readable platinum, the agency hopes to have drives that will keep humming along short of a catastrophe. The current technology wouldn't hold reams of data -- about 80,000 minuscule pages' worth on two platters -- but it could be vital for ANDRA, which wants to warn successive generations (and species) of radioactivity that might last for eons. Even if the institution mostly has that pragmatic purpose in mind, though, it's acutely aware of the archeological role these €25,000 ($30,598) drives could serve once leaders settle on the final languages and below-ground locations at an unspecified point in the considerably nearer future. We're just crossing our fingers that our archived internet rants can survive when the inevitable bloody war wipes out humanity and the apes take over.[Image credit: SKB]SlashdotScience87Leave A Comment2911Fujifilm sues Motorola over broad camera and phone patents, claims RAZRs and Xyboards are at faultBy Jon Fingas posted Jul 15th 2012 at 12:57PMMotorola won't have had much of a break following the dismissal of a key Apple lawsuit, after all. In a low-profile move, Fujifilm has sued Motorola for allegedly violating four particularly broad patents on camera and phone technologies -- we're talking basics such as transmitting data outside of a cellular network. The camera designer has supposedly been pushing for a licensing deal since April of last year without much success, and it's asserting that "at least" a wide swath of Motorola devices released both before and after that time are the key offenders, including the RAZR MAXX and Xyboard lines. The complaint is scarcely into the docket and makes it difficult to gauge just what kind of chance Fujifilm has to win in court; we just know that Motorola's (and now Google's) patent lawsuit headache is developing into more of a migraine.FOSSpatentsComplaint (PDF)78Leave A Comment66Inhabitat's Week in Green: origami Yoda, high-speed rail line and a self powered buildingBy Inhabitat posted Jul 15th 2012 at 12:25PMEach week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.It's been a great week for two of our favorite things over at Inhabitat: LEGOs and Star Wars. First, a group of LEGO builders from LEGOLAND Windsor built the tallest LEGO tower ever, snatching the title back from South Korea and returning it to the UK. Then, using 152,455 LEGO bricks, Rolls-Royce built a half-size replica of the jet engine that powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. In one of the most ingenious LEGO constructions ever built, LEGO pro Rene Hoffmeister built a barrel organ that plays the Star Wars theme song. And in other Star Wars news, we reported on the renovation of Luke Skywalker's boyhood home in Tatooine (actually it's in Tunisia). And finally, we shared a photo of this 7-centimeter-tall origami Yoda -- the most adorable bit of Star Wars memorabilia ever made.READ MORE11Leave A Comment3415PSA: Sprint LTE goes live today, honest and for true (update: includes Missouri)By Jon Fingas posted Jul 15th 2012 at 11:45AMSprint's decision to take its LTE live in Kansas City marked a short prelude to a full orchestral performance -- the carrier's upgraded 4G network is now official. Kansas City and St. Joseph in Kansas and Missouri, as well as 13 urban areas in Georgia and Texas, are taking the leap past WiMAX speeds as of today. Senior network VP Bob Azzi has warned the Kansas City Star that the current LTE access is still mostly for use outside until it expands to the 3G network's range, although he adds that there will be a coverage map available from July 16th onwards to let EVO 4G LTE, Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S III owners know when their phones reach full potential. Just remember that the real party starts in 2013, when Sprint hopes to both flick on voice over LTE and ramp up to extra-speedy LTE-Advanced.[Thanks, Alex]Update: As locals in the comments have helpfully reminded us, St. Joseph is in Missouri and just sits along the border with Kansas -- you know what they say about horseshoes, hand grenades and being close enough.Kansas City Star256Leave A Comment511Sprint 4G Rollout UpdatesMotorola Atrix HD now on sale at AT&T: $100 on contract for LTE, 720p and ICSBy Darren Murph posted Jul 15th 2012 at 11:31AMWell, lookie here. It didn't take long for Motorola's latest Atrix variant to go from unveiled to launched, as the Atrix HD is now on sale at AT&T for a wallet-pleasing $99.99 on contract. Sign the dotted line for two years, and you'll be getting a 4.5-inch Android superphone, complete with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), a true 720p display, Kevlar-infused backing, a "splash resistant" casing and an LTE radio. Those who indulge quickly are set to grab a gratis Vehicle Dock for "a limited time," and you'll also enjoy the first Moto handset to bring the outfit's Circle Widget to the homescreen -- which is engineered to take owners directly to their AT&T account info, displaying data usage, battery status and more. The phone's listed right now in AT&T's smartphone section in Titanium and Modern White, but the link to buy it seems deactivated for the moment. Still, it's all square to go on sale today, so keep a close eye on the source link if you're dead-set on an upgrade.Psst... you can learn more about the Atrix lineage through our original Atrix 4G and Atrix 2 reviews.AT&T104Leave A Comment67Nokia and AT&T cut Lumia 900 price to $50, sweeten the Windows Phone 7.8 potBy Jon Fingas posted Jul 15th 2012 at 11:19AMEarly Lumia 900 adopters might feel spurned knowing that their devices won't get any near-future upgrades beyond Windows Phone 7.8, but AT&T and Nokia are hoping that some new ...Read the full post on mobile.engadget.com391Leave A Comment613Xbox 360 Halo 4 bundle fights new enemies, packs familiar hardware on November 6thBy Jon Fingas posted Jul 15th 2012 at 10:45AMIt's widely considered a tradition: Microsoft readies a new Halo game, and a new Xbox 360 bundle swings by stores to mark the occasion. The Limited Edition Halo 4 Xbox 360 follows that pattern, with a special (if minor) twist. No one will be shocked by the new Halo-themed artwork or the inclusion of a Halo 4 copy in the 320GB system's box, but the ring of light on both the console and its two matching gamepads will drop the Xbox 360's green glow in favor of a distinctive bright blue. At $400, the console arriving November 6th will aim chiefly at the hardest of hardcore sci-fi shooter fans -- although murmurs of an upcoming successor console could make the Halo 4 pack an unofficial swan song for Microsoft's market dominator.
Consider the stand-alone $60 special edition wireless controller for a less expensive way to say goodbye.JoystiqMajor Nelson, Amazon137Leave A Comment3617Sony Xperia tipo sidles into the FCC, inspires yawnsBy Joseph Volpe posted Jul 15th 2012 at 9:49AMAnother day, another FCC filing. This time, though, the documents on offer aren't tipping us off to the impending arrival of some wunderphone -- it's just Sony's recently outed Xperia tipo. The diminutive 3.2-incher -- set for an official Euro bow this August -- is no screamer with its 480 x 320 TFT display and lone 800MHz Snapdragon CPU. The ICS handset's real claim to fame is its availability in single- and dual-SIM flavors. And based on the radios outlined in the corresponding Commission docs -- GPRS/EDGE/GSM 850 and 1900; WCDMA 850 and 1900 -- this modest phone could see a low-end berth on AT&T. Excited? Neither are we. Still, you can peruse the user manual, take a tour of the phone's inner workings and parse through dense legalese at the source link below.FCC43Leave A Comment35NIF sets record with 500 TW laser shot, lab-based nuclear fusion not far behindBy Sarah Silbert posted Jul 15th 2012 at 6:28AMIn an effort to recreate the fusion reaction that occurs in start formation, the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, CA has been building up to some extremely powerful laser shots. ...Read the full post on alt.engadget.com64Leave A Comment2313Adidas miCoach out now on European Xbox 360s and PS3s, connects to cameras and own hardwareBy Mat Smith posted Jul 15th 2012 at 4:13AMThose looking to hone their own olympian body in preparation for this year's Games can grab Adidas' miCoach title for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Tapping into both consoles' ...10Leave A Comment88Lexar XQD memory cards announced, will duel with Sony for Nikon D4's attentionBy Steve Dent posted Jul 15th 2012 at 2:04AMNikon's D4 is currently the only belle at the XQD ball, and until now, Sony was its only memory suitor.
However, Lexar's just arrived with a new line of cards to compete for the D4's affections. The Fremont-based company says it collaborated with Nikon to build the PCI Express-based memory, and that they'll hit the market sometime in the third quarter of 2012 -- with no mention of specs or prices so far. Unfortunately, that means we don't know how Lexar's offerings will stack up against Sony's H-series or S-series cards already on the market. That said, while you wait for more details about Lexar's new cards, feel free to check out the lovely data the D4 will be putting on 'em when they arrive.Nikon RumorsLexar8Leave A Comment610LG selected to develop 60-inch flexible OLED by 2017By Ben Drawbaugh posted Jul 14th 2012 at 11:57PMWhile regular consumers still wait for the first big screen OLED display to make it to big box stores, Korea's Ministry of Knowledge Economy has chosen LG to lead the consortium charged ...
Read the full post on hd.engadget.com76Leave A Comment2420Google Takeout introduces transfer tool for Google+ circles, merges your work and personal lifeBy Sean Buckley posted Jul 14th 2012 at 10:34PMThose who extol the virtues of keeping one's personal and professional life separate probably never had to juggle two Google+ accounts. Folks saddled with a Google+ profile for both their ...62Leave A Comment1413Ask Engadget: best tablet, software and case for a child with a developmental disorder?By Daniel Cooper posted Jul 14th 2012 at 10:06PMFeatureWe know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from is from Kim, who wants to help her four-year-old play games and communicate in the home. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com."I'm looking at getting a tablet for my four-year-old, developmentally delayed daughter. She uses an iPad with her therapist to play games and say what she wants, but I'm not sure if I should get the same for the home. Is there an Android alternative that's as useful in our special circumstances, and is it compatible with a sturdy, water-proof case for it?"For our two cents, we'd say that in such circumstances, continuity is probably an important factor to take into account. However, we're also aware that some of the specialist apps run into the hundreds of dollars, which few can easily afford, so let's turn the question over to our community. Do you have experience in the area, or perhaps you've already been in this situation? Either way, why not share what you know?
250Leave A Comment92Mobile Miscellany: week of July 9th, 2012By Zachary Lutz posted Jul 14th 2012 at 8:54PMNot all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, Motorola debuted the ...Read the full post on mobile.engadget.com4Leave A Comment46Google posts Android 4.1 Jelly Bean's changelog, explores its latest dessert in detailBy Jon Fingas posted Jul 14th 2012 at 7:48PMWe've certainly delved into Android 4.1 Jelly Bean's new features, but Google itself is just now giving us a full exploration of its update's sugar-laden heart through an official changelog. While Google Now, the updated camera app and other core components easily get their due, the checklist also has a decidedly more buttery feel than one would think -- key individual apps like Calendar now have more elegant transitions to go with the leaps and bounds in Android's overall speed. The breakdown even goes into corners that Google scarcely illuminated during the Google I/O keynote, such as accessibility and the finer nuances of the new keyboard. If you're the sort whose Jelly Bean fever has you checking for that Galaxy Nexus upgrade so often that you're nearly punching a hole in the screen, Google has your (no doubt temporary) placebo.Google331Leave A Comment1622Utah researchers create 'Spintronic' LED, claim it's 'brighter, cheaper' and eco-friendlyBy Darren Murph posted Jul 14th 2012 at 6:36PMSpintronics? Not exactly a new term 'round these parts, but University of Utah physicists are applying it in a unique way that may eventually make TVs look even sharper than they do today. The entity is trumpeting a new "spintronic" organic light-emitting diode (that's OLED, for short) that's said to be "cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the kinds of LEDs now used in television and computer displays, lighting, traffic lights and numerous electronic devices." Z. Valy Vardeny is even going so far as to call it a "completely different technology," and better still, a prototype has already been made. The professor expects that the newfangled tech -- which produces an orange glow today -- will be able to product red, blue and white spin OLEDs within a few years. It's a lot to wade through, but here's our question: will these things make the Galaxy S XI impeccably visible in outdoor sunlight? (Please say "yes.")

Gitmo Nation Update

Sunday, July 15, 2012

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