Hardware Software Archive

  • Plex for Mac OS X adds hardware h.264 video decoding

    Plex for Mac OS X adds hardware h.264 video decoding

    Exciting news from Plex, the media center for Mac OS X that won my heart a long time ago. The devs have announced that they've integrated Apple's new video decode acceleration framework into the latest build. In English, that means all h.264-encoded video—and there's a lot of it out there—can be sent to your GPU for decoding, giving your CPU a bit more breathing room. It should make for significantly better 1080p video performance.

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  • TiVo’s CEO goes on Fox Business to talk about the new Premiere

    TiVo’s CEO goes on Fox Business to talk about the new Premiere

    Watch the latest business video at video.foxbusiness.com In case you missed it, TiVo launched new products last night, the TiVo Premiere. The big news isn’t the hardware, it’s the software that’s dramatically different than the previous versions and the CEO went on to Fox Business to explain it to the talking heads. Oh and he said [...]

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  • Lumigon T1, S1 and E1 packs Android into some gorgeous hardware

    Lumigon T1, S1 and E1 packs Android into some gorgeous hardware

    Hardware specs and software and application support are probably the biggest things we look at when deciding on a new phone, but sometimes we quickly dismiss design and aesthetics. Now we can have a generous serving of both thanks to Scandanavian manufacturer Lumigon.

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  • iPhone Beats Droid, Nexus One And Droid Eris In Touchscreen Performance

    iPhone Beats Droid, Nexus One And Droid Eris In Touchscreen Performance

    To be honest, I don't really care which is the better smartphone (or super-duper phone): the iPhone 3GS, the Motorola Droid, HTC's Droid Eris, Google's Nexus One, Nokia's N900 or the Palm Pre. It's just great to witness this seemingly never-ending advancements in mobile technology, both on a hardware and software level, and to see increased competition drive innovation at such rapid pace. Just compare the market today to five years ago, and you can't help but be amazed by how far we've come - I still remember my epic struggles to get my previous phone (HTC S710 with Windows Mobile) to do half of what I really wanted it to. In short: if all phone manufacturers keep on pumping out better phones, I'm a happy camper (for the record: I'm still very pleased with my iPhone 3GS as my primary device). But comparisons will be comparisons, and MOTO Development Group this morning announced the results of its DIY touchscreen analysis, based on some touchy testing of the capacitive screens of the Nexus One, the iPhone, the Motorola Droid and HTC's Droid Eris.

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  • Analysis: iPhone’s touchscreen slightly better than Droid, Nexus One and Droid Eris

    Analysis: iPhone’s touchscreen slightly better than Droid, Nexus One and Droid Eris

    To be honest, I don't really care which is the better smartphone (or super-duper phone): the iPhone 3GS, the Motorola Droid, HTC's Droid Eris, Google's Nexus One, Nokia's N900 or the Palm Pre. It's just great to witness this seemingly never-ending advancements in mobile technology, both on a hardware and software level, and to see increased competition drive innovation at such rapid pace. Just compare the market today to five years ago, and you can't help but be amazed by how far we've come - I still remember my epic struggles to get my previous phone (HTC S710 with Windows Mobile) to do half of what I really wanted it to. In short: if all phone manufacturers keep on pumping out better phones, I'm a happy camper (for the record: I'm still very pleased with my iPhone 3GS as my primary device). But comparisons will be comparisons, and MOTO Development Group this morning announced the results of its DIY touchscreen analysis, based on some touchy testing of the capacitive screens of the Nexus One, the iPhone, the Motorola Droid and HTC's Droid Eris.

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  • Nokia taking Ovi Store criticism to heart, planning revamped version to rival App Store

    Nokia taking Ovi Store criticism to heart, planning revamped version to rival App Store

    Not quite sure if you've noticed, but some pretty significant shifting is going on in the heart of Espoo. Just days after Nokia announced that it would be closing up its flagship shops in London, New York and Chicago, in flies this: a new Ovi Store is already in the works, and if all goes well, it'll be available for public use as early as next Spring. For those keeping tabs, that's right around a year after the (admittedly tumultuous) launch of the existing platform, which has yet to live up to the firm's own expectations according to George Linardos. In case you're wondering (and c'mon, you're wondering), Mr. Linardos is the head of products at Nokia's media group, and in speaking with the Financial Times, he confessed that the Ovi Store "had been outpaced by Apple." He also admitted that the chorus of complaints from end-users were driving the next version, noting that his company has "screens up in [their] offices running Twitter feeds [of gripes] all day long." In fact, he likened the act to "sitting there and getting punched in the face."

    As for the next go 'round, he's looking to take a "tortoise and hare" approach when it comes to competing with Apple, who he himself claims "radically changed" the world around us when the App Store was introduced. As it stands, George sees the Ovi Store as a "jambalaya" of services, with Ben Wood -- an analyst at CCS Insight -- proclaiming that "none of those [work] properly." In the future, Ben has confessed that Ovi needs "to get all their ducks lined up, including hardware, software and services." So, what exactly will said ducks look like early next year? We're told that new features will include "in-application payments, a redesigned user interface that makes apps easier to discover and faster operation," and beyond that, the outfit is also looking to toss in recommendations based on the app purchases of their friends. This is definitely stirring stuff to hear from someone deep within Nokia's lairs, and it certainly makes us all the more excited to see what the next generation will bring. Nothing like a little competition in the market place to really light a fire up under someone's posterior, right?

    Nokia taking Ovi Store criticism to heart, planning revamped version to rival App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Review: TomTom Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch

    Review: TomTom Car Kit for iPhone and iPod Touch

    Short Version $219.94. The price says it all. The TomTom Car Kit is great; it works perfectly, and I loved using it. In fact, I wish I could keep the review unit that TomTom sent me. That said, would I ever spend 2 bills and change on it? Mayyyybe, but it’s unlikely. A standalone TomTom [...]

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  • It’s Google’s world and handset makers just live in it

    It’s Google’s world and handset makers just live in it

    When the Motorola Droid launched this month everyone was amazed that a company so down on its luck was able to put together a well-designed phone running a powerful, "brand new" OS. The whole package - hardware, software, and marketing - seemed flawless. In fact, phones running Android 1.5 now look hopelessly outdated and with 2.0's gesture, CDMA, and search support you'd wonder why handset manufacturers like HTC, LG, Kyocera, and Samsung are using 1.5 at all. The reasons have more to do with Google than any decision on the carriers' part. In fact, according to a source close to the handset business, Google's Android team directly assisted Motorola and Verizon in building the Droid's software from the ground up and is currently assisting another, unknown, handset maker in Korea to create a finely-tuned hardware and software combination. Most important, however, is that this is sort of assistance most manufacturers do not receive and, in the end, they are dinged for running an "older" version of Android.

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  • From the 3G Industry Summit in Kunshan, China: 16 demos from Chinese mobile startups

    From the 3G Industry Summit in Kunshan, China: 16 demos from Chinese mobile startups

    Earlier this week, I was in Kunshan, China, to attend the 3G Industry Summit [CN], a four-day event that has attracted a few dozen speakers and an audience of over 200 people, making it one of the biggest of its kind in this country. The annual event is organized by the Kunshan government and Mobile 2.0 Forum, a communication platform with more than 1,500 members, almost single-handedly run by industry veteran Leo Wang. The summit reassured me of one thing: The Chinese market for mobile hardware, software and contents is big already and it's bound to become huge in the very near future. Information and stats on China's mobile web sector and profiles of 16 Chinese mobile startups after the jump.

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  • Toshiba TG01 to get the WinMo 6.5 treatment

    Toshiba TG01 to get the WinMo 6.5 treatment

    While the TG01 is kind of a beast on the hardware front, the software is sorely lacking. 4.1″ WVGA touchscreen? Yes please. HSDPA, WiFi, and a 1GHZ Snapdragon process? Heck yes! Windows Mobile 6.1? Er, we’ll pass. But fear not, current and potential TG01 owners: Toshiba’s fixing that shortcoming as best they can. Toshiba has just [...]

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  • iPhone 3GS Will Cost an Extra $200 for 3G Upgraders

    iPhone 3GS Will Cost an Extra $200 for 3G Upgraders

    Current iPhone 3G owners on the AT&T network will have to pay a higher price if they wish to upgrade to the next-generation iPhone. The fine print in Apple’s iPhone comparison web page states the following: For non-qualified customers, including existing AT&T customers who want to upgrade from another phone or replace an iPhone 3G, the price [...]

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  • AT&T Taking Pre-Orders for iPhone 3GS

    AT&T Taking Pre-Orders for iPhone 3GS

    Though Apple’s next-generation iPhone won’t be hitting stores for a few more days, AT&T is already taking pre-orders for the device. AT&T’s brick-and-mortar retail stores are already accepting pre-orders for iPhone 3GS, and pre-order forms will be available soon at AT&T’s iPhone web site, the company said in a press release Monday. AT&T will be processing [...]

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  • AT&T: Lack of MMS, Tethering Support for iPhone Is Not Network’s Fault

    AT&T: Lack of MMS, Tethering Support for iPhone Is Not Network’s Fault

    Judging from the number of “boos” in the audience, the biggest disappointment at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday was related to AT&T’s inadequate support for the iPhone. Specifically, iPhone owners on the AT&T network will not be able to use multimedia messaging immediately when the new iPhone 3.0 operating system lands June 17. Also, Apple [...]

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  • Expect Next iPhone Hardware, Software in Early July

    Expect Next iPhone Hardware, Software in Early July

    The iPhone 3.0 operating system is tantalizingly close to completion — but don’t plan on lining up at the Apple Store for a new phone just yet. That’s because it’s unlikely the OS will be ready for consumers to download by next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which Apple is hosting. And without the promised software, [...]

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