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Monday, January 2, 2012

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Flurry: 1.2 Billion Mobile Apps Were Downloaded Over The Holidays

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 03:02 PM PST

Flurry: 1.2 Billion Mobile Apps Were Downloaded Over The Holidays


Flurry: 1.2 Billion Mobile Apps Were Downloaded Over The Holidays
With nearly 7 million new Android phones and iPhones activated on Christmas Day, an app-downloading frenzy was a foregone conclusion. App research firm Flurry estimates that a combined total of 1.2 billion apps were downloaded during the holiday week between December 25-31. That compares to an average of 750,000 mobile apps downloaded per week earlier in December, or a 60 percent jump. This is the first time app downloads surpassed the one-billion...

iPhone 4S Beats Out Lumia 800 In Benchmark Testing (Video)

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 03:02 PM PST

iPhone 4S Beats Out Lumia 800 In Benchmark Testing (Video)


iPhone 4S Beats Out Lumia 800 In Benchmark Testing (Video)
Have you been wondering which mobile browser is the fastest of late? It would be an understandable thing to pontificate, seeing that Android takes the cake when it comes to LTE support, iOS has the class-leading dual-core A5 chip on its side, and Windows Phone's IE mobile browser is basically a beast....

MAME gets Chrome Native Client port, is awesome case study

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 03:02 PM PST

MAME gets Chrome Native Client port, is awesome case study


MAME gets Chrome Native Client port, is awesome case study
We've already seen MAME burn brightly (and briefly) on iPads across the world and now it's been delicately ported across to Chrome's Native Client. Admittedly, the graphics may not stand up against recent gaming wares seen on Google's new platform, but it's still able to cope with the likes of Pac-Man....

Want To Make Your iPhone’s PIN More Secure? Repeat A Digit.

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 02:15 PM PST

Want To Make Your iPhone's PIN More Secure? Repeat A Digit.


Want To Make Your iPhone's PIN More Secure? Repeat A Digit.
Here's one for today's "Yeah, I probably should've thought of that" pile. If you've got anything even remotely private on your phone (and who doesn't? Your phone has access to your email, and thereby access to everything else), you've hopefully got a security PIN on the lockscreen. But which numbers should you use?...

New Year reveler crafts Kanye-approved EL Wire glasses, light up as the bass pou...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 02:15 PM PST

New Year reveler crafts Kanye-approved EL Wire glasses, light up as the bass pounds (video)


New Year reveler crafts Kanye-approved EL Wire glasses, light up as the bass pounds (video)
The bar-laden spectacles that Kanye West popularized have just been reborn, and dare we say, they're harder, better, faster and stronger. YouTube user ch00ftech decided to borrow a few good great ideas while adding in a few twists of his own, resulting in the creation of EL Wire Kanye glasses that actually light up when the beat pulses....

Apple gearing up for 'media-related announcement' later this month?

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 02:15 PM PST

Apple gearing up for 'media-related announcement' later this month?


Apple gearing up for 'media-related announcement' later this month?
Leave it to Apple to completely avoid CES, yet be one of the largest stories surrounding its dates. Much like last year's invite to what would eventually be the introduction of Verizon's iPhone 4, All Things D has it on good authority that the folks in Cupertino are spending their first hours back on the job planning a "media-related announcement" for later this month....

Can crowdfunding support the electric transportation revolution? Kickstarter see...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST

Can crowdfunding support the electric transportation revolution? Kickstarter seems to say no


Can crowdfunding support the electric transportation revolution? Kickstarter seems to say no
Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Green Culture Kickstarter is an amazing idea: let people with ideas pitch them directly to the masses with money. For alternative-powered vehicles, though, the website has not been too successful in bringing about people-powered change. Perhaps that's because the big OEMs are already providing the new and different cars that people want....

iOS Closes Out The Year With 52% Mobile Web Market Share

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST

iOS Closes Out The Year With 52% Mobile Web Market Share


iOS Closes Out The Year With 52% Mobile Web Market Share
Who's browsing the mobile web the most? Apparently, iPhone and iPad owners are. According to end-of-the-month data from statistics provider NetMarketShare, iOS users ended up with a 52% market share of mobile web browsing in December 2011. More simply put, that means that over half of the mobile web browsing last month took place on an iOS device. Android, meanwhile, had a 16.2% share, behind Java ME at 21.27%, which fell into...

Belarus bars use of 'foreign' websites, while Kuala Lumpur mandates WiFi in eate...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST

Belarus bars use of 'foreign' websites, while Kuala Lumpur mandates WiFi in eateries


Belarus bars use of 'foreign' websites, while Kuala Lumpur mandates WiFi in eateries
Talk about polar opposites. In an update posted to the Library of Congress, we're told that the Republic of Belarus will begin fining citizens that visit "foreign" websites. Crazy? Definitely, but no less true. Starting later this week, any Belarusian not registered as an entrepreneur may use "only domestic internet domains for providing online services, conducting sales, or exchanging email messages." According to the interpretation, it "appears that business requests from...

Engadget: now available in Google Currents!

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 01:27 PM PST

Engadget: now available in Google Currents!


Engadget: now available in Google Currents!
Here at Engadget, we like to live in this wild, ever-changing world called "The Internet." Last month, Google launched yet another branch for internet dwellers to explore, and explore we have. We're happy to say that you can now find each and every Engadget post within Google Currents, a Flipboard-esque reader that nicely formats your favorite websites for magazine-style enjoyment....

Microsoft brings Kinect float to Rose Bowl Parade: a making-of video

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 12:39 PM PST

Microsoft brings Kinect float to Rose Bowl Parade: a making-of video


Microsoft brings Kinect float to Rose Bowl Parade: a making-of video
Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade? Pish posh. As any red-blooded American will likely confess, it's the parade preceding the annual Rose Bowl that really gets one's attention, and this year's edition featured a float from none other than Microsoft itself. As Russell Wilson and co. were gearing up to take the field in Pasadena, a smattering of folks were strapping on their winter gear and heading atop an admittedly eye-catching Kinect float....

Samsung Galaxy S II gets new ICS ROM, offers Kies to the kingdom (video)

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 12:39 PM PST

Samsung Galaxy S II gets new ICS ROM, offers Kies to the kingdom (video)


Samsung Galaxy S II gets new ICS ROM, offers Kies to the kingdom (video)
New year, new you ROMs. Yep, the Galaxy S II is getting even more attention, with a duo of Ice Cream Sandwich versions landing on that capacious 4.3-inch screen. They consist of an early Android 4.0.1 build made on December 20th and version 4.0.3 crafted just ten days later. The interesting part is that, according to YouMobile, both of these will arrive through Kies, Samsung's Android connectivity software....

ASUS Transformer Prime sees v8.8.3.33 OTA update, GPS and performance improved

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 12:39 PM PST

ASUS Transformer Prime sees v8.8.3.33 OTA update, GPS and performance improved


ASUS Transformer Prime sees v8.8.3.33 OTA update, GPS and performance improved
For as much grief as ASUS is getting for its Transformer Prime, we're actually kind of surprised it's throwing the masses any bones at all. 'Course, one might say that having a riled-up customer base is better than having no customer base at all. Regardless of all that, a relatively small v8.8.3.33 update is purportedly hitting select Prime tablets today, with the over-the-air update bringing improved focus on the camera, bolstered...

Sprint gives LightSquared an extra 30 days to gain FCC approval

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 12:39 PM PST

Sprint gives LightSquared an extra 30 days to gain FCC approval


Sprint gives LightSquared an extra 30 days to gain FCC approval
As you may recall from last year, Sprint and LightSquared signed a 15-year agreement that would see the two companies share spectrum and equipment as they build out their respective LTE networks -- an agreement that hinged on LightSquared's ability to gain FCC approval for its planned use of a particularly problematic slice of spectrum....

Stop! It’s A Really Bad Time To Buy Most Gadgets!

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 11:51 AM PST

Stop! It's A Really Bad Time To Buy Most Gadgets!


Stop! It's A Really Bad Time To Buy Most Gadgets!
Did you know that your brain releases dopamine when it processes something new? At least that's what the Internet told me. Apparently dopamine is key in establishing a craving, which could be why ever-updating sites like blogs or Reddit are so popular. There is always something new. It could also be why some people always crave more gadgets....

NASA's GRAIL spacecrafts enter Moon's orbit, set to map its gravitational field...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 11:51 AM PST

NASA's GRAIL spacecrafts enter Moon's orbit, set to map its gravitational field in March


NASA's GRAIL spacecrafts enter Moon's orbit, set to map its gravitational field in March
Way back in September, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory sent a duo of Lockheed Martin-produced spacecraft toward one of its favorite test subjects, the Moon, as a part of its GRAIL mission -- Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory. Now, nearly four months later, the administration has announced that the GRAIL-A and -B twin crafts have planted themselves within our Moon's orbit....

IBM's Samuel J. Palmisano: we sold PC business due to lack of innovative opportu...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST

IBM's Samuel J. Palmisano: we sold PC business due to lack of innovative opportunities


IBM's Samuel J. Palmisano: we sold PC business due to lack of innovative opportunities
Departing IBM head honcho Samuel J. Palmisano has been known to say some outlandish things, but there's nothing comical about the information divulged in a new piece surrounding his legacy in The New York Times. Outside of looking into the details of how IBM become one of the world's most boring, highly profitable outfits, there's plenty of fascinating nuggets to be had....

PlayStation Vita shown running Sega Genesis titles (video)

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST

PlayStation Vita shown running Sega Genesis titles (video)


PlayStation Vita shown running Sega Genesis titles (video)
Still mulling whether or not to pick yourself up a PlayStation Vita? Obsessed with retro gaming titles? If you answered "yes" to both, you should probably start socking away a few extra coins, buster. YouTube user frwololo has just upped a video showcasing the Half Byte Loader running the Picodrive emulator on Sony's PS Vita -- the first major proof that this kind of wizardry is indeed a possibility....

Intel's Ultrabook portal jabs at limited functionality of tablets

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 11:01 AM PST

Intel's Ultrabook portal jabs at limited functionality of tablets


Intel's Ultrabook portal jabs at limited functionality of tablets
Love 'em or hate 'em, there's no question that tablets aren't capable of handling the same rigors (with the same efficiency levels) as a full-on laptop, and Intel's using that very point to promote the Ultrabook category as a whole. Given that we're just days away from seeing what's apt to be a flood of these things at CES, Intel's new Ultrabook portal (and linked "Ultra Excited For Ultrabooks" preview paper)...

Microsoft-approved Windows Phone 7 unlocker discontinued (for the moment)

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 10:13 AM PST

Microsoft-approved Windows Phone 7 unlocker discontinued (for the moment)


Microsoft-approved Windows Phone 7 unlocker discontinued (for the moment)
Well, that was fast. Not two months after ChevronWP7 began selling $9 "tokens" to unlock WP7 handsets, the tool is being discontinued. WPCentral reports that ChevronWP7 made an agreement with Microsoft not to sell more than 10,000 tokens. Unfortunately for latecomers, though, the outfit's reached that cut-off, and says it has no current plans to renegotiate this number (though it hasn't ruled it out either)....

Nintendo plans improved app store for Wii U, looks to serve Apple and Google in...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 10:13 AM PST

Nintendo plans improved app store for Wii U, looks to serve Apple and Google in dance-off


Nintendo plans improved app store for Wii U, looks to serve Apple and Google in dance-off
Unless you go through the '80s-style "becoming super cool" montage, the other app stores won't respect you. Nintendo seems to be in this mindset, as a source has stated that it's creating an app store for its upcoming Wii U controller that goes "far beyond" the online stores the company currently provides for its DSi and Wii consoles....

Great Gas Station Grub

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 09:24 AM PST

Great Gas Station Grub


Great Gas Station Grub
Gas station food doesn't always conjure up the highest images of your culinary fantasies, and often brings an unpleasant side of indigestion. Here are six gas station food oases where fine dining and delicacies extend beyond the aisle that has your favorite Hostess snack. 

Stanford archives provide rare glimpse into Apple's early days as mere seedling...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 09:24 AM PST

Stanford archives provide rare glimpse into Apple's early days as mere seedling (video)


Stanford archives provide rare glimpse into Apple's early days as mere seedling (video)
Housed in a climate controlled storage facility operated by Stanford University, nearly 600 feet of shelf space is dedicated to preserve documents, videos and memorabilia of Apple and its early days as a young startup. The collection holds rare gems such as interviews with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, both of whom discuss some of the rationale behind Apple's name -- Jobs asserts that it was selected to place his company...

ASUS now catching heat for locked Transformer Prime bootloader, probably wishes...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 09:24 AM PST

ASUS now catching heat for locked Transformer Prime bootloader, probably wishes the thing was never made


ASUS now catching heat for locked Transformer Prime bootloader, probably wishes the thing was never made
Man, talk about not being able to catch a break. After launching what was largely considered the first Android tablet worth drooling over at AsiaD, ASUS has ran into every conceivable issue in the months since. Delays, on-again / off-again claims about GPS and now, a locked bootloader that has the vocal Android modding community all sorts of angry....

Chart: How Google And Apple Won The Smartphone Wars

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:34 AM PST

Chart: How Google And Apple Won The Smartphone Wars


Chart: How Google And Apple Won The Smartphone Wars
What a difference just one year can make. In our Year in Tech post, I pointed out that 2011 was the year that Apple and Google won the smartphone wars. I put together the chart above from comScore U.S. mobile subscriber estimates to illustrate the dramatic shift in market share in the smartphone market....

CyanogenMod 9 may feature a 4G LTE toggle switch for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:34 AM PST

CyanogenMod 9 may feature a 4G LTE toggle switch for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus


CyanogenMod 9 may feature a 4G LTE toggle switch for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus
We were slightly disappointed when we discovered the Verizon-branded Samsung Galaxy Nexus didn't come with a built-in LTE toggle switch, but we had a feeling it wouldn't be long before the development community came in with a quick and easy solution. Thanks to Gregory Sarrica, we may be seeing a toggle button for the next-gen internet connectivity included in a future build of CyanogenMod 9....

7-inch ASUS Eee Memo Pad gets leaked, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon inside

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:34 AM PST

7-inch ASUS Eee Memo Pad gets leaked, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon inside


7-inch ASUS Eee Memo Pad gets leaked, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon inside
The ASUS news, it just keeps on flowin'. Shortly after getting a sneak peek at the Eee PC Flare, in flies yet another leaked image of yet another leaked ASUS product. This go 'round, we're looking at what's purportedly the 7-inch Eee Memo Pad, a handy little fellow that'll ship with a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 16GB to 64GB of internal storage space, built-in 3G, WiFi and a 1,280 x 800...

The Engadget Giveaway: win a BlackBerry Bold 9900 and a one-year TeleNav subscri...

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 08:34 AM PST

The Engadget Giveaway: win a BlackBerry Bold 9900 and a one-year TeleNav subscription!


The Engadget Giveaway: win a BlackBerry Bold 9900 and a one-year TeleNav subscription!
The fount of free stuff to give away overfloweth -- and we want to keep the holiday spirit alive -- so we've taken the opportunity to offer up two more huge contests before CES approaches this coming weekend. Through tomorrow you'll have the chance to win a BlackBerry Bold 9900 and a full year's worth of top-notch voice turn-by-turn navigation, all courtesy of TeleNav!...

Palm Software Director: “We Just Weren’t Able To Execute”

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 07:45 AM PST

Palm Software Director: "We Just Weren't Able To Execute"


Palm Software Director: "We Just Weren't Able To Execute"
Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20 and Brian X Chen has a great tick-tock detailing the initial fall – and continuing fall – of webOS. The interviews are quite telling, including a quote from Paul Mercer: "Palm was ahead of its time in trying to build a phone software platform using Web technology, and we just weren't able to execute such an ambitious and breakthrough design," said Paul Mercer, former senior director...

DV300F adds WiFi to Samsung's front-facing LCD DualView line

Posted: 02 Jan 2012 07:45 AM PST

DV300F adds WiFi to Samsung's front-facing LCD DualView line


DV300F adds WiFi to Samsung's front-facing LCD DualView line
Samsung is extending its "highly popular" DualView point-and-shoot line with a WiFi cam, launching the DV300F today. Consistent with previous models, this latest 16 megapixel snapper includes a 3-inch 460k-dot LCD on the rear, along with a 1.5-inch 61k-dot screen up front. Naturally, a front-facing screen makes self-portraits a snap, while also serving to entertain toddlers with things like an animated clown loop....