Whiz Reviews

Calling this Rachael UI an Android "skin" is like calling Windows 95 a "DOS skin," but that's not to say there's nothing to love about it. In fact, we're rather relieved that Sony Ericsson seems to be addressing Android's incredibly lackluster media playback interface, the SE "mediascape" version of which dominates this particular video -- a sequel to the first Rachael UI tease we got back in July. You know what else is great? The video title name drops the same luscious screen resolution as the DROID, 480 x 854, which spells all sorts of good things for SE's first Android entry. Video is after the break, and if that doesn't do the trick for you, the Rachael hardware is being teased over on this end of the internet.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading New Sony Ericsson Rachael UI video hits, still looks nothing like Android

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

New Sony Ericsson Rachael UI video hits, still looks nothing like Android originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And now... fighting out of the red corner, weighing in with two Evergreen GPUs, and wearing black trunks and red trim, it's the Radeon HD 5970. ATI's latest challenger for the title of undisputed graphics champion has been snared in the wild, and its photo shoot reveals a suitably oversized beast. Measuring in at 13.5 inches and requiring both an eight- and six-pin power connector, the pre-production sample can fit inside only the roomiest and best-powered rigs around. It's named somewhat confusingly, with AMD dropping its X2 nomenclature for dual GPU setups, but it features two HD 5870 chips running in onboard Crossfire on the same PCB, and foreshadows a HD 5950, which will combine a pair of the more affordable HD 5850s. Performance figures available earlier have been pulled, at the behest of AMD, but we've got plenty of eye candy to admire, and there's also no price tag in sight to spoil our daydreaming pleasure.

[Via PC Perspective]

Filed under: Desktops

ATI's dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 pictured in the wilderness originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why confine your nerdy sloth to your living room, where large robots mime fake guitar and serve you sloppy mixed drinks? Take that zest for the sedentary life with you on the road by having one of your robot ninjas steal this iPhone Rock Band robot from its ingenious creator, Joe Bowers. The Arduino-based device uses ambient light sensors to detect the falling notes and then taps out the music with some conductive foam attached to some squeaky fake fingers. Joe did a fairly detailed write-up, and even uploaded his code, so there's presumably nothing stopping you from actually doing something with your life and building one of these with all that free time you've saved up by hacking your way through all the console-based guitar games. Video is after the break.

[Via Daily Mobile]

Continue reading Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone

Filed under: Cellphones, Robots

Laziness on the move: robot plays Rock Band on the iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The iPhone is one of the most wildly popular phones the world has ever seen, while Windows 7 is well on its way to becoming the globe's most ubiquitous OS. So compatibility between the two would be kinda sorta important, right? Tell that to Intel's quality control team who seem to have somehow missed an issue between Apple's app carrier deluxe and the P55 Express chipset's USB controller. Consistent (and persistent) syncing issues have been reported on Apple's support forums, wherein iTunes on Windows 7 machines recognizes the iPhone, but spits out an "error 0xE8000065" message whenever the user attempts to sync. While some have found limited success with using PCI-based USB cards (and bypassing the chipset), this is clearly a major issue and something Apple would expect to be fixed before shipping its Core i5 / i7 iMacs, which are likely to sport the chipset. Hit the read link for the original thread of sorrow and regret, and do chime in with your own experience in the comments.

[Via The Register]

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops

iPhone and Windows 7 don't play nice, Intel P55 chipset to blame originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of all the DROID talk? Well, tough cookies, mister. Nilay, Paul and Josh have a lot to say on the subject, and you're just going to have to sit there and take it. Or you could skip the first 40 minutes of this week's podcast, but that's just a recipe for regret. If you do stick it out you'll be treated to some unusually candid discussion of Josh's facial hair and other more pertinent questions picked from the USTREAM discussion that will almost certainly frighten you straight.

WARNING: This podcast has been known to kill people. Engadget assumes no responsibility for injury or death.

[Thanks, JS and Rom for the image]

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: ChangWang2003 - 99 Problems (Battletoads Remix)

Hear the podcast


00:01:28 - Motorola DROID review
00:19:08 - HTC confirmed to be cooking up Android 2.0 update for Hero, other devices unclear
00:19:19 - Android 2.0 ported to original T-Mobile G1 (video)
00:19:29 - HTC Droid Eris peeks its head out once more, shows off 5MP camera
00:30:48 - Google Navigation video hands-on: you want this
00:32:25 - The game has changed
00:37:18 - How-to: hack your own DROID dock with magnets and cardboard
00:41:20 - Storm2 now available from Verizon for those who waited
00:49:25 - Nintendo DSi LL goes large in Japan on November 21 (update: DSi XL in Europe Q1)
00:53:41 - Netflix for PlayStation 3 requires a disc, software solution coming late 2010
00:57:28 - Apple TV 3.0 software update is out, with iTunes Extras, LP & Genius in tow
01:06:23 - Nokia vs. Apple: the in-depth analysis
01:06:40 - How-to: recycle your old gadgets

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Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget

Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget Podcast 169 - 10.31.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whoa, is that webOS 2.0 we see on the horizon? No, sorry, it definitely isn't -- but we can say with relative confidence that the upcoming Pixi will be shipping with a newer, slightly more feature-rich version of webOS than its Pre brethren around the world; if nothing else, Synergy supports Yahoo on the new model, as PreCentral observes. What remains to be seen is the exact version number that'll be shipping out of the gate -- recent DSLReports user agent logs suggest that 1.2.9 might be the gold build (for the record, the Sprint Pre currently rocks 1.2.1), but apparently there's some chatter going on about a 1.3 as well. Doesn't seem like much of a difference, but a 0.1 increment usually means more features, fixes, and changes than a 0.01 increment does, so naturally, we're pulling for a bigger number. There isn't any intel on what this mythical 1.3 might contain just yet or whether it'd be heading to Bell, Sprint, and O2 Pres, but we'll keep an eye out.

Filed under: Cellphones

Palm Pixi definitely shipping with a new webOS version, but which? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like it or not, we've got it on pretty reasonable authority that HTC's first "DROID" phone is nothing more than a rebadged, shape-shifted Hero (something we've been hearing for a while now), and that it'll be launching on Verizon on November 6th, the same day as Motorola's DROID. That means Android 1.5 "Cupcake," Sense UI, 3.2-inch screen, 528MHz processor and so forth. The Eris will retail for $199 but with a $100 mail-in rebate. It'll pack in an 8GB microSD card and the hopes and dreams of a generation of cheapskates that will be hopin' and prayin' that HTC manages to push Android 2.0 onto this thing so they don't look too bad in front of their DROID-toting buddies on Verizon.

[Thanks, anonymous]

Filed under: Cellphones

Leaked docs show HTC's DROID Eris launching on November 6th for $99, running Android 1.5 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BOO! It's Halloween and it's also a Saturday, so let's not hear any pathetic excuses for not carving pumpkins. While we're no experts, we've got a few tips for making your jack-o'-lanterns better looking and more unique:

• Always mark where you're carving first instead of freestyling, especially for the lid. Once the knife's in there's nothing you can do about it.
• Want an accurate carving? Draw or print your pattern on paper first and then stick it on the pumpkin, so that you can use a pin to punch an outline.
• Use a scalpel. Seriously, it's so much better than kitchen knives.
• Be creative: consider using a variety of carving depths instead of just cutting out holes. It's best to start off with the darkest areas so that you know where the threshold is. If it's too shallow you can always scrape the trench.
• Don't use candles -- they don't last and aren't safe for the kids and animals; many LED candles have a convincing flickering glow, so try those. Alternatively, why not convert a cheap solar garden light into a lid for your jack-o'-lantern? Or go Ben-Heck and try the Cylon mod?
• Keep the seeds for roasting -- they make a good snack.

Feel free to refer to our gallery for the whole process. Enjoy and have a happy Halloween!

Filed under: Household

How-to: geek up your pumpkin originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Surface? What Surface? Ideum, which popped out a rather gigantic MT2 multitouch table earlier this year, is now introducing another model that makes that fellow look like child's play. The 100-inch MT-50 is an outright beast, boasting 86 viewable inches, a 16 x 5 aspect ratio and a stunning 2,304 x 800 resolution. It was engineered for the Space Chase Gallery at the Adventure Science Center, which is one of several high-tech exhibits the company has deployed at the Nashville, TN-based science center. The table itself can support over 50 simultaneous touch points, and while the Flash-based software is obviously tailored for learning applications, there's nothing stopping this thing from becoming the world's next great arcade fixture. Hop on past the break for a drool-worthy vid.

Continue reading Ideum's 100-inch MT-50 multitouch table supports 50 simultaneous touch points (video)

Filed under: Displays, Science

Ideum's 100-inch MT-50 multitouch table supports 50 simultaneous touch points (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It belts out severe weather alerts as storms are barreling towards your domicile. It acts as a decent bedroom stereo. And it wakes you and the SO up to your own favorite jams -- all while charging your iPod or iPhone throughout the night. If those amenities sound like must-haves in your own life, you might be interested in knowing that iLuv's iMM183 dual dock alarm clock is now shipping, nearly a full year after being originally announced at CES. The pain? $149.99 -- but hey, that's a small price to pay to keep your dear media player / handset out of a tornado's eye, right?

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio, Portable Video

iLuv ships weather-watching iMM183 dual dock iPod / iPhone alarm clock originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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