Little Bit Archive

  • RIM’s BlackBerry tablet starting to sound suspiciously like a Foleo

    RIM’s BlackBerry tablet starting to sound suspiciously like a Foleo

    So BGR is reporting that it has "confirmed with multiple sources" that RIM's alleged BlackBerry tablet device is very real -- despite Mike Lazaridis' recent downer comments on the subject -- and that it'll have an 8.9-inch screen, WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity to hook up with your phone. Oh yeah, about that Bluetooth connectivity: the tablet is being billed as a "companion" device, something to use when you need a little bit more horsepower and screen real estate for multimedia and the like. Sound familiar? Yeah, Palm tried this with famously catastrophic results a while back -- and considering RIM's ultra-conservative policy on product innovation, we can't imagine things going any better up in Waterloo. It's apparently slated for a December release with engineers scrambling to get it released even sooner... and, you know, discontinued sooner, too.

    RIM's BlackBerry tablet starting to sound suspiciously like a Foleo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G put through its bandwidth-sucking paces

    Sprint’s HTC EVO 4G put through its bandwidth-sucking paces

    So, since you're stuck paying $10 extra per month for "premium data services" (not that bad of a 4G tax, if you ask us), what wonders await you on the HTC EVO 4G, fueled by Sprint's next-gen network? Well, if these best-case-scenario tests we just did are any indication: everything you ever dreamed of. Of course, Sprint's WiMAX might end up stumbling up the steps of reality, but there's no denying that this is 21st century technology that's worthy of some of the excitement that's been lavished upon it. We just saw demos of Qik video conferencing, YouTube HQ (output brilliantly over HDMI), simultaneous data and voice usage, and even a straight-up speed test (4Mbps down, 1Mbps up, the latter of which is a hard cap). The phone performed brilliantly in each scenario, but of course that's to be expected when you have a 4G tower in the building. Check out the videos of all this breathless action after the break. Added bonus? All four (totaling about 100MB) were uploaded with our laptop tethered over WiFi to an HTC EVO 4G. Don't be jealous. Okay, be just a little bit jealous.

    Continue reading Sprint's HTC EVO 4G put through its bandwidth-sucking paces

    Sprint's HTC EVO 4G put through its bandwidth-sucking paces originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 20:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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  • Skype has new plans for you to choose from

    Skype has new plans for you to choose from

    Skype, Skype, Skype. Starting tomorrow, it's going to be a little bit cheaper to call your overseas friends and family with Skype thanks to a new set of subscription plans up on offer. An example plan: unlimited calls within the U.S and Canada to both landlines and mobile phones for $2.95 per month. That's quite affordable, yes.

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  • Palm webOS 1.4.1.1 update rolled out to Verizon Pre Plus and Pixi Plus

    Palm webOS 1.4.1.1 update rolled out to Verizon Pre Plus and Pixi Plus

    Get excited, Verizon Pixi Plus or Pre Plus owners! But not too excited. Just a little bit excited. Less “Holy crap, I’m getting a petting zoo for my birthday!” excited, more “Neat, it’s probably not going to rain on my birthday!” excited. Verizon just pushed out a minor update for webOS, bumping things up to version [...]

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  • Asus Eee Pad coming in July

    Asus Eee Pad coming in July

    We're about to see another manufacturer throw their hat into the Tablet PC ring. ASUS is expected to show out their EeePad in June at Computex, with a July launch date. Of course, ASUS has a reputation for needing to push those launch dates out a little bit, so we'll see if things go as planned.

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  • Who needs privacy? 56,000 photos taken in Philly school district kerfuffle

    Who needs privacy? 56,000 photos taken in Philly school district kerfuffle

    This MacBook-spying story could be the creepiest story in quite some time. We already know the allegations: that the school district provided MacBooks to its students, but then took photos of the students without their knowledge or consent. Now we're getting numbers. One student claims he was photographed more than 400 times, and now it has emerged that, over a period of two years, school district officials took some 56,000 photos in total, with many of those including students in the frame. FIFTY-SIX THOUSAND! You know, you send your kids to school expecting them to learn a little bit of math, maybe about evolution and the Big Bang, but you do not expect them to have their privacy violated as if we're living in East Germany.

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  • Asus Ares 5970 is truly two 5870s slapped together, no holds barred

    Asus Ares 5970 is truly two 5870s slapped together, no holds barred

    The ATI Radeon HD 5970 is essentially two 5870s slapped together, but underclocked a little bit so as not to melt a hole through your carpet (but will melt a hole through your bank account~!) Asus saw that and was like, "Pfft, wait till you see what we've come up with." It's called the Asus Ares 5970, a true-to-life dual 5870 solution that doesn't downclock nothin' for nobody. Slight problem: it might not actually come out here in the U.S.

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  • A Trojan Horse Arrives In The Internet-Connected TV Room

    A Trojan Horse Arrives In The Internet-Connected TV Room

    It's not the norm for a startup based in London's Silicon Roundabout (yes, it's our little bit of the Valley) to be in the hardware business, let alone the highly competitive world of consumer electronics. But that's precisely the position that 3view find themselves in. The company's Internet connected set-top box, which marriages the worlds of over-the-air broadcast television and Internet TV (IPTV), is poised to compete directly with TVs and set-tops from the likes of Sony, Pioneer, Sharp, Humax, Pace and others, and to some degree, the online video and media playback capabilities of Microsoft's XBox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 game consoles.

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  • Infinity Ward defending the cost of MW2’s DLC

    Infinity Ward defending the cost of MW2’s DLC

    To say we were a tad flabbergasted that Modern Warfare 2's 5 map pack DLC costs $15 is about right. We weren't exactly outraged. It's just a video game after all and really doesn't matter that much. But $15 is a bit much for five maps with two of the recycled from previous Call of Duty games. Infinity Ward's Creative Strategist Rob Bowling disagrees. He calls it an investment. Well, Creative Strategist is just code for Public Relations so he kind of has to say that.

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  • Video: The $113.5 million F-35B Lightning II can float in the air for a little bit

    Video: The $113.5 million F-35B Lightning II can float in the air for a little bit

    There's a certain amount of pride in seeing a country pump out something like the new F-35B Lightning II fighter jet. At $113.5 million per aircraft, it's about as far away from the meaning of the word "inexpensive" as possible. It makes you think, well, if we can afford things like that, why can't we afford things like this? But, whatever. The entire purpose of this post is to watch a legitimately exciting video. So, let's!

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  • Nice knowing you, AdBlock, but it’s time to move on

    Nice knowing you, AdBlock, but it’s time to move on

    Today's a very important day in the history of me using the Internet, a history that began in late 1996. Ladies and gentleman, I have completely uninstalled AdBlock. I do believe that makes me a man in the Jewish faith, so I'll be expecting presents from all of you.

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  • Replacing laptop LCDs to save battery life

    Replacing laptop LCDs to save battery life

    What's least energy efficient part of your laptop? The LCD, correct. What are your options? Stop using computers? I would if I could, believe me. Or, you could be a little adventurous and try to swap out the LCD with another, more energy efficient one. Sort of like hammering a nail with a sledgehammer, yes.

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  • Magnetic quantum dots

    Magnetic quantum dots

    Scientist #1: "You got your manganese in my germanium!" Scientist #2: "You got your germanium in my manganese!" Both: "Wow! Magnetic quantum dots!"

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  • RealNetworks settles RealDVD lawsuit: Has to cough up $4.5 million, stop supporting the software

    RealNetworks settles RealDVD lawsuit: Has to cough up $4.5 million, stop supporting the software

    Right around the time the world's financial markets started to collapse, back in 2008, RealNetworks, the folks behind RealPlayer, released RealDVD. It was a short-lived piece of software that made making DVD movie backups fairly painless—too painless for Hollywood, which immediately took RealNetworks to court, claiming all sorts of copyright infringement hokum. That's all in the past now, for RealNetworks has settled with the six "major" Hollywood studios to the sum of $4.5 million. Ouch.

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  • Doctors learning how to operate using robots

    Doctors learning how to operate using robots

    You probably haven't heard about the Da Vinci surgical robot, but it's been out for a little while. I had the chance to see it last year (and even try it out a little bit) and it's an amazing piece of machinery. It's also extremely expensive and in high demand, so it's difficult for doctors to find time to train in it's use.

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