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T-Mobile Coincidentally Testing “iPhone-Compatible” 4G Network Near WWDC

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 06:35 PM PDT

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Network testing is hard work. You need to ensure coverage, regular data rates, and spread. That’s probably why T-Mobile happens to be testing their 1900 MHz HSPA+ signal around the Moscone Center in San Francisco just in time for WWDC.

Quoth T-Mobile to 9to5:

While upgrading coverage inside the West side of the Moscone Center, T-Mobile has also deployed 4G HSPA+ service in the 1900 MHz band to test the live network on a small scale. As part of the company's previously announced $4 billion network modernization effort, T-Mobile plans to launch 4G HSPA+ service in the 1900 MHz band in a large number of markets by the end of the year, which will make our 4G network compatible with a broader range of devices, including the iPhone. NOTE: The time and location of this test is just coincidental.

Arguably the time and location could feasibly be coincidental, but I doubt it. Where better to test connectivity with a band of iPhones than what amounts to the San Francisco iPhone Festival? As mentioned above, 1900 MHz HSPA+ service should be popping up in other locations across the country although I suspect T-Mobile will focus on markets where users are underserved, techie, and would love to spend $30 on T-Mobile’s unlimited data plans.

These Are The Guys That Will Take You To Space… In 2014… For $95K [TCTV]

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 04:47 PM PDT

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It’s in every science fiction book and movie since forever. Humans — the ordinary non-astronaut kind, like you and I — going up into space like it’s no big deal. And it’s generally believed that one day, eventually, space flight will become mainstream.

But alas, the day draws nigh. XCOR Aerospace and Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) have introduced the first aircraft that can endure frequent repeat trips to sub-orbital levels before tuckering out: the Lynx. Since the Lynx, a small fighter-esque plane that only holds two people, can make multiple trips a day back and forth to space, space flight becomes affordable enough for anyone to take the trip.

Well, not necessarily anyone. By “affordable,” I mean $95,000 for a ticket.

You’ll co-pilot the mission yourself, since there’s only space for two. The flight will last four or five minutes, over various spots on the planet, wherein the Lynx will flip upside down to give you a full view of our lovely rock.

According to Chief Test Pilot Rick Searfoss, who has traveled up into space with NASA three times as a Space Shuttle Commander, you’ll be able to see the curve of the earth and the thin blue line that separates our atmosphere from the black vacuum of space.

And though the Lynx doesn’t go past sub-orbital levels (around 100 kilometers), you’ll still feel entirely weightless.

The company has already sold over 175 tickets, and at $95,000 a pop, they’ll turn a profit immediately once they begin regular flights with private citizens. For now, we’re only in the testing phase, with commercial flights beginning no later than 2014.

Here’s an animation of the Lynx:

Fly Or Die: Parrot AR.Drone 2.0

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 03:19 PM PDT

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Let’s just cut to the chase. The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 is awesome. Pricey? Sure — it’s $300. It’s a toy that costs as much as the smartphone you’d be controlling it with, but it’s a grown-up’s toy, and one that makes a jaded John Biggs very happy. This is far more than I can say for most of the gadgetry on the market today. But John’s opinion aside, this thing just rocks.

The quadcopter has a 720p camera that streams the feed directly to your smartphone, along with a QVGA camera measuring the terrain below. Plus, it comes with a built in GPS and allows you to store to a USB key on the device and upload the footage later. Oh, and it can do a flip.

Now, they can be a bit difficult to maneuver. Matt nearly broke one at Disrupt this year, and flew it straight into a wall. But I think it’s one of those things you have to get used to. John didn’t have that much trouble weaving that thing around cameras and ducking it under lights in our studio. And I imagine that a game of chicken between two AR.Drones at once would probably be a pretty good time.

All in all it’s an expensive, but totally worth-it toy. Two flies.

[AR.Drone 2.0 website]

Amazon Latest To Start Selling The Nest Learning Thermostat

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 01:43 PM PDT

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Never minding the legal wranglings with Honeywell, Nest Labs is on a roll lately and just announced Amazon as the latest retailer to sell the Nest Learning Thermostat. This follows similar announcements concerning Lowes and the Apple Store. Amazon is currently selling the product at its full $249 MSRP, but it is available through Prime, making it a little better deal than from other retailers.

This is a big move for Nest Labs. It’s also somewhat surprising that it took so long. The Nest Learning Thermostat launched late last year. As Nest notes in today’s announcement, there are 65 million people who use Amazon regularly. Personally, I check Amazon for any product before turning to other retailers.

At $249 the Nest Learning Thermostat is a bit pricey. It’s a hard sell even with the company’s promise that it will reduce a person’s utility bill thanks to its learning functionality and motion sensors. It’s no doubt disruptive enough to capture the attention of Honeywell’s legal hounds, which are currently arguing the thermostat is infringing on seven of its patents related to its thermostat technology and design. But this nonsense hasn’t stopped Nest Labs — at least not yet.

Hey Bloomberg, HTC Is Not Being Shut Out By Microsoft

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 11:31 AM PDT

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At what point did Bloomberg start writing ridiculously sensationalistic and misleading headlines? It apparently started last night with the following: HTC Said To Be Shut Out Of Next Version Of Windows.

Last I checked, HTC is in the business of making smartphones, not tablets. The four previous tablets built by HTC were likely built to appease the carriers. Regardless of whether or not HTC is allowed to build devices for Windows 8 proper, that won’t be true for Windows Phone 8, say multiple sources.

The writing’s been on the wall. It’s not rocket science.

Motorola is locked into Android indefinitely for obvious reasons. Despite having launched the original Nexus, HTC has been supplanted by Samsung, who has built the last two Nexus devices. Samsung will continue to dabble with Windows Phone but will ultimately back Android.

Ugh. Nokia. Not even sure where to begin here. After the much hyped Lumia 900 dropped in the U.S., it turned out to be pretty lackluster. It’s definitely not a hero device. It’s not even that great of a mid-level device considering how crap the camera is. In some respects, the super cheap Lumia 710 for T-Mobile is a better device than the Lumia 800 or 900.

There have been rumors of Huawei building Windows Phone devices, as well. I can confirm that they will be releasing a Windows Phone device this year.

But really, this is where HTC comes into play. Of the 13 Windows Phone 7 devices currently available, HTC has built seven. They’re losing ground to Samsung and Motorola in the Android race, so backing Windows Phone makes the most logical sense. And both companies are located in the greater Seattle area. Where is Nokia’s U.S. office? New York. Sunnyvale.

HTC admitted earlier this year in an interview with Mobile Magazine that the company needed to refocus, scale back and get back to building “hero” devices. At this point, Windows Phone lacks exactly that. Both Microsoft and HTC are doubling down on Windows Phone 8. In typical Microsoft fashion, millions upon millions of dollars will be allocated to increase market share. HTC has the pedigree to build amazing hardware. Remember how awesome the Nexus One was?

I can guarantee that HTC IS NOT being locked out of Windows RT. Building tablets was never a part of HTC’s core strengths. About those sources in the Bloomberg story. The most likely scenario: misinformation from competitors or all involved clearly didn’t do their homework. Maybe both.

Goodnight, Sweet $199 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 10:24 AM PDT

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The 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook is no more. A rumor began circulating this morning stating that the low-end model was getting the ax and it was apparently true. In a statement released to Engadget RIM confirms and explains that 32GB and 64GB models offer a better value. This means that going forward the least expensive path to the PlayBook is through the $249 32GB model with the 64GB model running $50 more.

The PlayBook took too long to mature. In its current state, thanks to BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, the PlayBook is a fine tablet complete with a very capable set of tools. But it took RIM too long to build the product to this state. Rather than launching the tablet with a core set of features, RIM outed the tablet and proceed to update the product over the following months. It wasn’t until earlier this year, nearly 9 months after it launched, that the PlayBook finally became a viable product.

The current theory about the killing of the 16GB PlayBook involves margins. Per Engadget, the 16GB model, when sold at $199, has a lot smaller profit margin than the other models. By cutting this model, RIM likely hopes to move closer to the black. Besides, the few PlayBook buyers out there are likely either corporations or fanboys — $50 more to support their platform of choice isn’t that big of a deal.

One Thousand Foxconn Workers Riot In Chengdu, China Plant UPDATE

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 09:48 AM PDT

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According to a brief in the Want China Times, workers in the Foxconn plant in Chengdu rioted in a male dormitory, throwing bottles, trash, and furniture after plant security came to the dormitory to investigate a thief.

Approximately 1,000 workers threw trash bins and paper and set off fireworks on dormitory balconies. Twelve workers were arrested by Chinese police.

The riot ended after two hours.

The Chengdu plant caught fire in May of last year and the employees had remaining grievances that stemmed the riot. The plant makes LCD displays for various devices, including the iPad.

UPDATE – Foxconn sent along a note about the incident:

We were informed by local law enforcement authorities that late Monday night, several employees of our facility in Chengdu had a disagreement with the owner of a restaurant located in that city. We were also informed that the employees subsequently returned to their off-campus residence, owned and managed by third-party companies, at which time a number of other residents also became involved in the disagreement and local police were called to the scene to restore order. Foxconn is cooperating with local law enforcement authorities on their investigation into this incident.


The Only Logical Thing To Do With These Lenovo IdeaPad Ads Is Start A Caption Contest

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 09:46 AM PDT

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Marketing never ceases to crack me up. Sometimes that’s a good thing, like when Samsung cracks a few fanboi jokes at Apple ahead of the Superbowl. It’s funny, and it delivers their message in a compelling, entertaining way. But there are some marketing efforts that are unintentionally hilarious — like when Samsung partnered with hot new clothing line Rag & Bone in February and had models walk down the runway with giant-ass phones in their hand.

Sure, humans hold their phones as they walk, so I guess product placement like this is somewhat true to life. But this isn’t funny cause it’s true; it’s funny cause it’s sad. People concerned with Rag & Bone don’t care about the Galaxy Note, and conversely, people who are extremely interested in the Galaxy Note probably aren’t all that into Rag & Bone.

I’m not trying to generalize; I just think that both brands are missing their mark. I mean, consider this: Anna Wintour, the goddess-diva-almighty-ruler of fashion, is using a flip phone and what appears to be a BlackBerry in every picture I can find of her. At the same time, look at our how our Hackathon hackers dress themselves. These worlds simply don’t collide, which is why I find it so hilarious that Lenovo is promoting its new IdeaPad 310 and 410 ultrabooks with fancy-shmancy editorial fashion photo shoots.

Let’s have a look at these, yes?

With a creative laptop dock project on Kickstarter, simultaneous web-surfing and horseback-riding could be the future of equestrianism.

The Lenovo Ideapad 310 is the perfect media player for my daily jog.

When wandering off of the highway with a handful of balloons, be sure to take your laptop. Remember the Boy Scout mantra: Always be prepared.

Dear Ideapad 310, Sorry for party rockin’.

So easy a dog can use it, while I vacuum.

Perfect for biking, bathing, and birthday caking.

Lighter than air.

I honestly don’t even know what to say about these two. Great for self-defense, perhaps?

Feel free to add your own caption in the comments section, or tweet them to me for the fun of it.

[via M.I.C. Gadget]

Whither The Console: Is This The Sunset Of The Dedicated Game Machine?

Posted: 07 Jun 2012 08:57 AM PDT

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After sitting through three major press events at E3 this year and wandering the halls, I began seeing comments regarding the viability of consoles in a constantly-changing tech landscape. First there were the memes that essentially suggested that this year’s E3 was a gift to PC gaming and then John Carmack, the granddaddy of FPSes, (and bear in mind Carmack is working on a virtual reality helmet so he may not be quite grounded in absolute reality) said:

“Console gaming might morph. You can certainly see cloud gaming being built into every display device and traditional consoles could become more like the audiophile niche of people who want the extreme experience there.”

Now his statement may seem absurd on the surface but let’s unpack it. He’s suggesting that as a piece of hardware the console may go the way of the high-end turntable or a really nice stereo. The rabble will use cloud-connected PCs to play popular games but those who want “pure” experiences will spend thousands on gold master discs and a powerful console to play them on. Again, this is far-fetched – a game that is truly divorced of the media on which it resides – but it could happen.

But assessing how things look in the short term is a different animal. Take, for example, the rumored Steam console. This device will epitomize the vision of cloud gaming but, if rumor is correct, it will be less a purpose-built console and more a living-room PC.

And there’s the rub: as technology swiftly outpaces even the most conscientious of gamers, how can a console hope to beat an upgradable PC or a simpler streaming service like OnLive in the living room? Why would a parent buy a Wii U when junior is just as happy with a few games on a platform that will grow as the child grows?

Obviously there are lots of reasons for buying a console – franchise titles, a stable experience, media streaming – but many consoles are now jacks of all trades and masters of none. A console offers a stable platform that developers can grow into and a universal control device that works (for some people) better than a keyboard/mouse combo. But is that really enough? Sure the Xbox is encroaching on cable boxes, but is that really a source of revenue? Most of the folks Microsoft hopes to woo with cable channel access don’t want a game console. They just want to watch reality shows on TV after surfing five hundred channels with giddy abandon.

I’m definitely not saying that this E3 nailed the lid on the console coffin. It’s clear that the manufacturers are biding their time and allowing current generation hardware to reach its natural end of life. We can probably expect to see new consoles announced next year from Sony and Microsoft with shipping dates in 2014 or 2015, but I worry that by then a high-end, dedicated console will look as quaint as an HD-DVD player in the living room. The technology can catch up, to be certain, but that doesn’t mean the consumer will always wait for it.

[Image: Kesipun/Shutterstock]
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