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Thursday, December 29, 2011

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Fisker officially recalls 239 Karmas over battery safety issue

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 02:57 PM PST

Fisker officially recalls 239 Karmas over battery safety issue


Fisker officially recalls 239 Karmas over battery safety issue
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Fisker After confirming that the A123 battery in the Fisker Karma has a battery safety issue and then figuring out a way to fix the problem, Fisker and the NHTSA have announced an official recall for 239 Karmas. The official reason for the recall is that: Within the high-voltage battery, certain hose clamps may have been positioned incorrectly during assembly....

comScore: Apple Grows Mobile Marketshare From 9.8% To 11.2%, But Samsung’s Still...

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 02:57 PM PST

comScore: Apple Grows Mobile Marketshare From 9.8% To 11.2%, But Samsung's Still Top OEM


comScore: Apple Grows Mobile Marketshare From 9.8% To 11.2%, But Samsung's Still Top OEM
comScore has just released its latest numbers regarding the mobile landscape, finding that Samsung is still the top OEM with a 25.6 percent marketshare, up just .3 percentage points from the three month period ending in August. Meanwhile, Apple's price drop on the iPhone 4 along with the introduction of the iPhone 4S has taken its share of the market from 9.8 percent to 11.2 percent....

EPA boosts production goal for advanced, cellulosic biofuels by more than a third

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 02:12 PM PST

EPA boosts production goal for advanced, cellulosic biofuels by more than a third


EPA boosts production goal for advanced, cellulosic biofuels by more than a third
Filed under: Biodiesel The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) boosted its 2012 goals for production of non-corn-based biofuels by about 36 percent, reflecting the federal government's efforts to both cut its dependency on foreign oil and find alternatives to corn- and alcohol-based fuels. The EPA boosted its production goal for advanced biofuels, whose feedstocks range from sugarcane ethanol to algae, by 48 percent, while increasing its goal for cellulosic biofuels, or biofuels produced...

The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM!

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 02:12 PM PST

The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM!


The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM!
No Tim this week, sadly, but that won't stop this runaway podcasting freight train. Darren and Terrence will be joining Brian to discuss the biggest news of this post-holiday / pre-CES lull, but mostly we'll be talking about the year that wasn't -- join us in the chat below or send a note to podcast (at) engadget (dot) com to share your thoughts on the biggest tech misfires of the year.Continue...

Apple applies for facial recognition patent, wants to let iDevices get to know y...

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 01:26 PM PST

Apple applies for facial recognition patent, wants to let iDevices get to know you better


Apple applies for facial recognition patent, wants to let iDevices get to know you better
Your momma always said your handsome mug would take you places. Now it might allow you to access your iPad. An Apple patent application released today describes a facial recognition system that requires minimal computing power, and works whether you're indoors or out -- we don't use our tablets and phones in a photo booth, after all....

LTE-Capable Windows Phones Should Ship In The First Half Of 2012

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 12:38 PM PST

LTE-Capable Windows Phones Should Ship In The First Half Of 2012


LTE-Capable Windows Phones Should Ship In The First Half Of 2012
There are a lot of naysayers out there when it comes to the Windows Phone platform, but as Robin pointed out a couple of days ago many haven't really given the OS a fighting chance. Some of it has to do with the fact that people often equate cost with quality, and most Windows phones are (at the moment) rather inexpensive....

British training 'Xbox generation' soldiers with tweaked games

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 12:37 PM PST

British training 'Xbox generation' soldiers with tweaked games


British training 'Xbox generation' soldiers with tweaked games
Austerity means the military can't afford the big-budget training exercises to battle-harden new recruits, so it's relying more on computer simulations. Sadly, Virtual Battlespace 2 can't compete with the Hollywood-style excitement of Modern Warfare. That's why it's buying in game engines from the studios (VB2 was based on tech licensed from the makers of Operation Flashpoint) and cutting out the unrealistic physics -- such as rifle bullets flying three miles and...

VW promises 25% cleaner manufacturing around the world by 2018

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 11:50 AM PST

VW promises 25% cleaner manufacturing around the world by 2018


VW promises 25% cleaner manufacturing around the world by 2018
Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants, Volkswagen When we visited Volkswagen's manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, TN a while back, we were told it would be model for other company plants around the world. That's just what an announcement today puts into effect. Expanding on its "Bluemotion" tagline for its more efficient vehicles, VW's cleaner factory initiative is called "Think Blue....

Is Verizon Joking? Paying Online/By Phone Will Soon Cost You An Extra $2

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 11:04 AM PST

Is Verizon Joking? Paying Online/By Phone Will Soon Cost You An Extra $2


Is Verizon Joking? Paying Online/By Phone Will Soon Cost You An Extra $2
Yesterday Droid-Life obtained a leaked internal document from Verizon that had a surprisingly annoying little tidbit within: "Beginning 1/15/12, there is a $2 'convenience fee' for making a credit or debit card bill payment online or via call-in channels." Sometimes leaks are faked or forged, and I hoped against hope that this particular leak was a load of malarkey....

White Epic 4G Touch to grace Sprint come January, proves your wildest dreams can...

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 11:04 AM PST

White Epic 4G Touch to grace Sprint come January, proves your wildest dreams can come true


White Epic 4G Touch to grace Sprint come January, proves your wildest dreams can come true
If you thought Sprint was going to let T-Mobile be the only US carrier to offer a white Galaxy S II, think again. Per Sprintfeed is a supposed internal memo pegging the carrier's bleached variant of the GSII for January 8th, 2012. For those keeping score at home, that'll be nearly a month after T-Mo, and a good six months after we first caught wind of the unicorn....

Tech's biggest misfires of 2011

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 10:18 AM PST

Tech's biggest misfires of 2011


Tech's biggest misfires of 2011
The past 12 months have been a boon of technological innovation, particularly in the world of mobile devices, where top companies have been waging an arms race for the top of the smartphone and tablet hills. Not everything has been smooth sailing, however -- 2011 has also been dotted by delays, false starts, security breeches and straight up technological turf outs....

Fiat 500, Chevy Volt listed among biggest product flops of 2011... but should th...

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 09:31 AM PST

Fiat 500, Chevy Volt listed among biggest product flops of 2011... but should they be?


Fiat 500, Chevy Volt listed among biggest product flops of 2011... but should they be?
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, Fiat 'Tis the season for thin news cycles and cheesy top ten lists. Yahoo! Finance has thrown its hat in the top ten ring with its list of the biggest flops among all consumer goods introduced for 2011. Both the Fiat 500 and Chevrolet Volt have made it among the chosen few, rubbing elbows with such luminaries as Netflix's Qwikster and Disney's Mars Needs Moms. Why the Volt?...

Nearly 40% Of Facebook Use Is From Mobile Apps

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 09:31 AM PST

Nearly 40% Of Facebook Use Is From Mobile Apps


Nearly 40% Of Facebook Use Is From Mobile Apps
According to new data from Benedict Evans for Enders Analysis, the number of monthly active users of Facebook's mobile apps recently passed the 300 million mark. This is primarily due to heavy use of the iOS and Android apps, but it also takes into account apps that run on BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows Phone, iPad and feature phones. That number equates to roughly 40% of Facebook's currently disclosed 800 million active users. What's interesting is that...

Oops: Droid 4 makes an early appearance in Best Buy promo

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 09:31 AM PST

Oops: Droid 4 makes an early appearance in Best Buy promo


Oops: Droid 4 makes an early appearance in Best Buy promo
With its backlit keys and shaved corners, it could only be the Droid 4 leading the pack of phones in this Best Buy promo shot. The slider hasn't yet reached the shop floor, but that hasn't stopped it from promoting the big box retailer's Rewards Zone offers. While Verizon has already let a festively-colored Droid RAZR and a pair of Xoom 2 Xyboard tablets out of the gates this winter, keyboard...

Hyundai Brings Auto Racing to Times Square

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:43 AM PST

Hyundai Brings Auto Racing to Times Square


Hyundai Brings Auto Racing to Times Square
Video game hits the big screen.

The morning after: PlayStation Vita sales go cold during first full week in Japan

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:43 AM PST

The morning after: PlayStation Vita sales go cold during first full week in Japan


The morning after: PlayStation Vita sales go cold during first full week in Japan
It's hard to set much store by early sales performance, particularly after the evergreen 3DS faced such a rocky road. Nevertheless, the Vita's latest stats do look disappointing for such a highly anticipated -- not to mention high-quality -- console: after shifting a remarkable 321,000 units during its first two days on sale in Japan, it could only muster 72,500 in the whole week between December 19th and Christmas Day....

Mobilewalla: The Highest Rated Mobile Apps Of 2011

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:55 AM PST

Mobilewalla: The Highest Rated Mobile Apps Of 2011


Mobilewalla: The Highest Rated Mobile Apps Of 2011
Mobile analytics firm Mobilewalla has ranked the top apps across all four mobile platforms for 2011, using its own ranking system known at the "Mobilewalla Score." Instead of looking at raw user ratings, this scoring system is an algorithm that analyzes a variety of factors in addition to ratings, including an app's position within its own category, volume, social media sentiment and more. The scores are a numerical value between 0 and...

Amazon marks 'best holiday' for Kindle devices, fills stockings full of cash

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:55 AM PST

Amazon marks 'best holiday' for Kindle devices, fills stockings full of cash


Amazon marks 'best holiday' for Kindle devices, fills stockings full of cash
It was yet another solid year for Amazon's Kindle family of products. The mega online retailer sent out its yearly post-Christmas card, bragging about moving "well over one million Kindle devices per week" for December, making it the best holiday yet for the e-reader / tablet line, according to the company....

Are pilots a plug-in vehicle's prime demographic?

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:08 AM PST

Are pilots a plug-in vehicle's prime demographic?


Are pilots a plug-in vehicle's prime demographic?
Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Green Culture What would Amelia Earhart drive? If she were alive today, she might be keen on getting behind the wheel of a Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt, figures Jim Motavalli of the New York Times. Setting aside the fact that airplanes use tremendous amounts of fuel, Motavalli collected anecdotal evidence that lots of today's pilots are big plug-in vehicle fans....

Verizon confirms latest LTE outage restored, again claims 3G operated normally

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:08 AM PST

Verizon confirms latest LTE outage restored, again claims 3G operated normally


Verizon confirms latest LTE outage restored, again claims 3G operated normally
Verizon Wireless appears to be standing behind its claims of operating "the nation's largest, most reliable 3G network and the nation's largest 4G LTE network," following this month's latest nationwide data outage. A Verizon spokesperson wrote in to inform us that "the 4GLTE issue was resolved overnight. 3G operated normally; calling, texting were unaffected." We were unable to access data on both LTE and 3G CDMA networks with our Galaxy Nexus...

Leaked memo details Verizon's $2 fee for paying your bill; autodraft or ACH the...

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:08 AM PST

Leaked memo details Verizon's $2 fee for paying your bill; autodraft or ACH the only way out


Leaked memo details Verizon's $2 fee for paying your bill; autodraft or ACH the only way out
A couple of years back, AT&T offered select customers a $25 prepaid MasterCard to switch their billing over to autodraft. Soon, Verizon Wireless will be following Sprint's footsteps and charging you for every month that you aren't using that very system. Tactical differences aside, the leaked memo shown above details what has to be one of the most consumer-unfriendly policy changes since the carrier boosted its early termination fee for "advanced...

Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 06:20 AM PST

Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions


Verzo Kinzo unboxing and impressions
Yes, the Verzo Kinzo is real! That Americano-Czech Android smartphone with mid-range specs that went on sale in November with a ludicrous $459 price tag only to be hastily relaunched earlier this month for a slightly more digestible $359 is not a giant farce. (Well, maybe it is.) It left the ethereal world of rendered computer graphics and landed in our mitts just in time for the holidays....

Apparently people want to pay higher tolls than more gas taxes

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 05:32 AM PST

Apparently people want to pay higher tolls than more gas taxes


Apparently people want to pay higher tolls than more gas taxes
Filed under: Transportation Alternatives, Legislation and Policy, USA The Reason organization identifies itself as libertarian, but the group's latest Reason-Rupe poll of 1,200 Americans found more Democrats out there (45 percent) than Republicans (35) or "Pure Independents" (16). Whatever the political leanings of the participants and the methodology used, the interesting result for cleaner transportation advocates is how the people said they'd like to fund infrastructure improvements....

Fund.me: Mobile Social Network Startup Just.me Raises $2.7 Million

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 05:32 AM PST

Fund.me: Mobile Social Network Startup Just.me Raises $2.7 Million


Fund.me: Mobile Social Network Startup Just.me Raises $2.7 Million
Just.me, a stealth startup incubated by Palo Alto, California-based Archimedes Labs has raised $2.7 million in Series A funding according to an SEC filing. The company earlier secured $600,000 in seed financing from SV Angel, Google Ventures, True Ventures, Betaworks and a couple of other high-profile angel investors such as Don Dodge, Michael Parekh and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington. I reached out to Keith Teare, CEO and sole founder of just.me (and...

N-Control dismisses marketing consultant, discounts PS3 Avenger pre-orders

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 05:32 AM PST

N-Control dismisses marketing consultant, discounts PS3 Avenger pre-orders


N-Control dismisses marketing consultant, discounts PS3 Avenger pre-orders
Keeping up with your gamer gossip? Then you're probably up to snuff on the recent Ocean Marketing / Penny-Arcade spat. We held our tongues as the drama unfolded -- no easy task, considering Engadget's name was dragged into the affair -- but now it seems like the internet soap-opera is reaching its conclusion. Not the gossiping type?...

Ring in the New Year With Good Luck Food

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 04:44 AM PST

Ring in the New Year With Good Luck Food


Ring in the New Year With Good Luck Food
Every culture in the world has some kind of tradition to welcome in the New Year with a little bit of luck; and oftentimes, that annual ritual is related to food. 

Engadget Mobile Podcast 119 - 12.29.2011

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 04:44 AM PST

Engadget Mobile Podcast 119 - 12.29.2011



Engadget Mobile Podcast 119 - 12.29.2011
It's that weird week between Christmas and New Year's, and what have we got for you, dear listener? A completely normal international Engadget Mobile Podcast, of course! Settle in around the media player dock and make all your 2012 dreams come true with us, won't you? Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen Guest: Mat Smith Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Tycho - Coastal Brake (Ghostly International) 00:03:40 - Pantech Pocket review 00:14:20 - Samsung: No room for ICS...

Jawbone Up refunds start rolling out, feel free to keep your bricked band (or not)

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 03:55 AM PST

Jawbone Up refunds start rolling out, feel free to keep your bricked band (or not)


Jawbone Up refunds start rolling out, feel free to keep your bricked band (or not)
Not entirely satisfied with that Jawbone Up purchase? Well, plebes, if you also applied for the "no questions asked" refund, you ought to check your inbox. A reader of Wireless Goodness has received a confirmation (as seen above) that greenbacks from their purchase are inbound. For those of you who forgot to file that claim, peep the more coverage link below....

60beat GamePad connects to iOS devices, requests 50 bucks for the privilege

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 03:08 AM PST

60beat GamePad connects to iOS devices, requests 50 bucks for the privilege


60beat GamePad connects to iOS devices, requests 50 bucks for the privilege
iOS devices certainly aren't lacking for gaming accessories, but we're always willing to welcome a new contender. 60beat believes it's got the ideal solution in the shape of this familiar-looking controller. It connects to an iPhone, iPad or iPod through the headphone jack and offers up some familiar gaming options in the shape of dual-analog sticks and digital inputs....

1 million Galaxy Notes shipped worldwide, US fans throw money at their screens

Posted: 29 Dec 2011 02:20 AM PST

1 million Galaxy Notes shipped worldwide, US fans throw money at their screens


1 million Galaxy Notes shipped worldwide, US fans throw money at their screens
The Galaxy Note, Samsung's unconventional powerhouse, has managed to ship 1 million units in under two months. While eager US customers still wait for the 5.3-inch tabletphone hybrid to arrive on their shores, the Galaxy Note has apparently struck a chord in Europe and Asia. The number of units shipped is always more substantial than the number devices out there in end-users' (preferably large) hands, but it bodes well for the...