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As much as we're familiar with mobile device torture tests, they're normally inflicted by us or otherwise not-so-voluntary. Nokia, however, has stepped up to the plate and doled out the abuse to the Lumia 900 itself with a hammer and nail, all based on a wager that the Windows Phone's use of Gorilla Glass would hold up to Sonim-level punishment. The company's Chris Ruble and Mike Meyers (not that Mike Myers) used a Lumia 710 as a dry run before an on-camera demo that not only saw the 900 assaulted with the hammer, but used as a blunt instrument itself -- all without a crack or scratch. We imagine that other toughened-glass phones would survive the hit, and there's every possibility that smacking the polycarbonate plastic would leave more than a scuff mark. Nokia's test still proves that its pride and joy can withstand more than just a casual roughing up, and you can see the slightly cringe-inducing test in the video below.

Continue reading Nokia uses Lumia 900 as a hammer in a torture test, makes us wince (video)

Nokia uses Lumia 900 as a hammer in a torture test, makes us wince (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 04:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Does the word ReRAM ring a bell? No? Well, the key point is that it's much faster than NAND memory, and it's making its way into chips from Elpida, Sharp and Panasonic. Further proof that ReRAM is on the up and up? Researchers at University College London have used this technology to make a chip that operates at 100 times the speed of standard Flash memory. The device is composed completely of silicon oxide, which improves the chip's resistance, and it doesn't require a vacuum to work (which makes it cheaper to produce). But this new chip is more than just a faster alternative to Flash; its ability to move between different states of conductivity means it can be configured as a memristor, or a device that handles both data-processing and storage tasks. In the long term, researchers hope this technology can pave the way for silicon oxide CPUs -- and UCL is already using this design to help develop transparent memory chips for mobile devices. Need to know more? Feast your heart on the gritty details via the link below.

Researchers develop silicon ReRAM chip, send warning shot to Flash memory originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 06:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Our hopes of taking the Fisker Atlantic for a spin next year just got dampened considerably: a big document leak has revealed that the more reasonably-priced alternative to the Karma won't be rolling off the production lines en masse until mid-2014, a year later than we'd expected. Thanks in part to a factory overhaul, the only Atlantics rolling on their hybrid-powered wheels in mid-2013 will be prototypes. On the upside, we've learned more about the car itself, including a fairly brisk 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds courtesy of a 300HP-equivalent motor. Green drivers who thought that the promised lower price would put it into entry-level luxury will nonetheless get a reality check with that $50,000 to $60,000 target, even if it's still a big savings over the six-digit Karma. There's still a huge amount of leeway for things to change, but with our compatriots at Autoblog having confirmed that the documents were real and "highly confidential," they may be a sign that the Tesla Model S will have free rein in the green luxury sedan world for a good year or more.

Fisker leak shows Atlantic production delayed to mid-2014, 0-60 in 6.5 seconds originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Last summer, try as we might, we couldn't get too much out of Microsoft's creative director for Kinect Games, Kudo Tsunoda, about what's next from the interactive peripheral. More recently, in an interview with Venture Beat, Tsunoda was a little more verbose about what he thinks the next big thing in Kinect is -- and it isn't a Kinect 2. The good news is, he believes that no new hardware will be required, and the innovations will likely come from developers, as they better understand and utilize the capabilities. A combination of voice, tone and facial recognition along with motion detection will likely be the tools that push the experience into the next era -- such as allowing users to participate in a game's story like an actor. Hit the source if you want to read the full interview, but you can be sure we'll be at E3 again this year to beat him, and others, with the question stick once more.

Kudo Tsunoda: 'Waiting for the next big thing isn't about waiting for the Kinect 2' originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The at times very heated legal battle between Apple and Samsung might be softening just a bit ahead of truce talks on May 21st. Samsung's mobile head JK Shin just left Seoul for the mediated discussions saying there were still "several negotiation options" on tap, including the possibility of cross-licensing patents. He warned that there was still a "big gap" between the two sides, and we'd tend to agree -- neither Apple nor Samsung is exactly backing off just yet. However, it's a definite shift in language from March, when Shin was vowing "no compromise," and it parallels Apple CEO Tim Cook's own disdain for lawsuits. We just wouldn't bet money on the two singing "Kumbaya" this week.

In same breath, Shin added that an ongoing 4G chipset shortage wasn't letting up: he didn't see things getting better until the start of the fourth quarter, or October for us common folk. That's a problem for Samsung's phones and tablets most of all, of course, and in a dire case could see LTE-packing American Galaxy S III variants rely on other vendors' chips to stay on the 4G bandwagon. There's also a chance of a ripple effect on other companies that want Samsung's parts, but short of getting a peek at Samsung's inner workings, we won't know the full impact for awhile yet.

Samsung chief: we're open to a cross-licensing deal with Apple, but 4G chip shortage might last until the fall originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 13:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Look out, savvy graphics card buyer: just because it's labelled 'GeForce' and starts with a '6' doesn't necessarily mean it benefits from NVIDIA's premium 28nm Kepler architecture. We've already seen rebadged mobile chips with last-gen 40nm silicon, and now entry-level desktop cards are arriving on shelves that will stretch Fermi's expiry date even further. There are no price tags as yet, but according to AnandTech the 'new' GeForce GT 610 is a repackaged GT 520 with 48 CUDA cores and an ever-so-polite 29-watt power draw. The GT 620 is a GT 530 with a 49-watt TDP and twice as many CUDA cores as the 610 -- although a meager 64-bit memory bus will put a cap on any performance gains. Finally, the GT 630 is a 65-watt GT 440 in all but name, with a 128-bit memory bus width allowing its 96 CUDA cores to be fully exploited. This latter card shouldn't be confused with the OEM version of the GT 630, which does actually pack Kepler. Bewildering, right? We've quizzed NVIDIA over its strange rebadging tradition and were told that the company simply numbers its products according to raw performance, rather than freshness or chip type -- which sort of makes sense so long as you don't dwell on it.

NVIDIA outs budget GeForce GT 610, GT 620 and GT 630, no Kepler in any of 'em originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 15:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Still waiting for your HTC handset to make its way through customs? Ratchet your hopes just a smidge higher, because the company says it's making progress. "Some models have gone through inspection and been released to our carriers customers," the firm stated in an investor statement today. HTC explained that each of the contested models needs to be reviewed by officials before release, and assures customers that it is working with customs to speed along the process. Which devices are making it through? "We don't have the status of each specific device at this time," HTC says, "We remain confident that this issue will be resolved soon." Sure, that's not much to go off of, but we'll take what we can get.

Continue reading Customs slowly letting HTC handsets into the US, can't say which ones

Customs slowly letting HTC handsets into the US, can't say which ones originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 16:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's tough being the new kid in town -- ask Voyager Mobile, an up and coming MVNO that had its launch delayed by a "malicious network attack" last week. The tenacious firm may have missed its planned May 15th launch, but managed to pull things together in time for the weekend, piggybacking unlimited talk, text and data off of Sprint's CDMA and WiMAX network for $40 a month. A basic unlimited voice plan is also available to the tune of $20, without data allowances, of course. Phones are available too, albeit without subsidies -- Samsung's Epic 4G Touch or Galaxy S II will each set you back $550, though an assortment of more affordable devices can be had from $120 and up. Tempted to jump ship? Check out the source link below and let all your MVNO dreams come true.

Voyager Mobile shakes off network issues, launches a few days behind schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 16:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not long after Samsung's SGH-i667 "Mandel" looked like it would never see the light of day, the Windows Phone 7.5 device made its official debut at CTIA, dubbed as the Focus 2. As expected, the phone is officially on sale today at AT&T retailers across the US, giving folks another option aside from the flagship Lumia 900 for a fix of LTE and Mango on the network. To refresh your memory, you'll find a 4-inch Super AMOLED display and VGA camera up front, and a 5MP shooter on back that's capable of 720p video. Internally, there's a 1.4GHz single-core CPU (exceedingly par for the course for Windows Phone at this point) and a 1,750mAh battery to hopefully ensure you'll have enough juice to get through the day. Despite the speedy connectivity, we'd be remiss not to mention that the Focus 2 packs a paltry 8GB of non-expandable storage and only comes in Glossy Pure White -- but for fifty bucks under a new two-year agreement, we won't kvetch too much. Our full review is coming soon, so hit the source link for more details in the meantime.

Samsung's Focus 2 arrives at AT&T today, a slice of LTE-equipped Mango for $50 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 17:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Fans of the Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences can appreciate similarly contrived dynamics in comparing Nokia and RIM (neither of which, contrary to the occasionally expressed opinion, has been murdered despite "Apple and Android" consisting of three words and 15 letters). Both companies are former smartphone market share leaders -- RIM in North America, Nokia globally. Both have had success in developing economies with efficient operating systems that they plan to support indefinitely. Both developed reputations for high build quality and good antenna design, and both were initially dismissive of the iPhone as they continue to see Android as the path to commoditization. And after precipitous market share declines, both hired new CEOs. Nokia, a European company, hired a CEO raised in Canada. RIM, a Canadian company, hired a CEO raised in Europe. These men now struggle with keeping their companies part of a viable alternative to the two dominant marketplace offerings.

Since embarking on their new operating system strategies, though, there have been many contrasts. While Nokia hired an outsider as a CEO, RIM hired an insider. Nokia decided to adopt a licensed OS; RIM decided to build its own (based largely on acquisitions). And now that both the Mobile World Congress and BlackBerry World conferences have passed, there's an opportunity to assess their comeback progress.

Continue reading Switched On: Clash of the troubled titans

Switched On: Clash of the troubled titans originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 18:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of May 14th, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of May 14th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 18:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite Motorola's Android 4.0 rollout schedule, not every one of the manufacturer's devices are ready for dessert -- some, the outfit says, will be put on a diet. "Obviously we want the new release to improve our devices," the company said in a recent blog post, "If we determine that can't be done, well, then we're not able to upgrade that particular device." Handsets that are bogged down by Ice Cream Sandwich simply won't get an update. Even so, Motorola affirms that it's working closely with Google to keep its hardware up to date.

Motorola skipping Ice Cream Sandwich for some devices, worries it'll make them fat originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Want a sneak peek into the future of design? This week Inhabitat hit NY Design Week to uncover the best and the brightest in green interior and furniture design. At ICFF we spotted an ethereal series of 3D printed Hyphae lamps and we were wowed by the iTree -- a massive iPod sound system made out of an entire tree trunk! We also saw LED technology take on surprising new forms - like Light and Contrast's tiny flower-shaped lamps and Peteris Zilbers' quirky mood broom lamp (yes, it's shaped like a broom). We'll continue with the New York Design Week coverage throughout next week, so come back to Inhabitat in the coming days for more fresh new design finds, and read on beyond the break for more in the here and now.

Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: NY Design Week, a hybrid Porsche and recycled sportswear

Inhabitat's Week in Green: NY Design Week, a hybrid Porsche and recycled sportswear originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 20:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Native Instruments' gear is a must-have for those in the beat making world. We put the cheaper, dinkier Maschine Mikro through its paces and found that while we loved the portability, we weren't so hot on the lack of MIDI ports and absence of knobs for twiddlin'. That said, we weren't able to hate on the compromises that were made to bring it in under $600 and small enough to stow in a backpack, but how about you guys out there? When you've used this gear day in, day out, can you forgive its flaws in exchange for that extra cash in your hand, or do you wish you'd saved up a little more? If you were in NI's position, what would you have done differently?

How would you change Native Instruments' Maschine Mikro? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 22:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been a bit of a sour year for Yahoo -- it's seen the departure of one of its founding fathers, suffered through a patent dispute with Facebook and lost its new CEO in a sea of scandalous accusations. Yikes. At least former head honcho Scott Thompson's negotiations to sell the firm's stake in Alibaba seem to be going through -- the two firms just announced plans to redistribute about half of Yahoo's 40-percent stake in said Chinese tech giant. Under the current agreement, Alibaba will purchase 20-percent of its fully diluted shares back from the Silicon Valley company, netting Yahoo $7.1 billion in compensation. Yahoo will also be permitted to sell an additional 10-percent of its stake in a future IPO, or else require Alibaba to purchase it back at the IPO price.

Despite Yahoo's stake changing hands, the companies will still be working together -- Yahoo has cleared Alibaba to continue to operate Yahoo! China (which was acquired by the latter back in October 2005) under the Yahoo! brand for up to four years -- in exchange for royalty payments, of course. Finally, Alibaba will license various patents to Yahoo moving forward. What's next? Well, Alibaba CEO Jack Ma did let it slip at AsiaD that he's considered buying Yahoo as a whole, and repurchasing the firm's assets in Asia could be a step in that direction. Read on for the official press release in all its financial glory.

Continue reading Yahoo to sell back half of its Alibaba stake for $7.1 billion, more in the latter's future IPO

Yahoo to sell back half of its Alibaba stake for $7.1 billion, more in the latter's future IPO originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday at Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 we visited the Electric Imp booth to chat with the startup's founders and get some hands-on time with the tiny wireless computer. What is the Electric Imp? It's a module containing an ARM Cortex M3 SoC with embedded WiFi that's built into an SD card form factor. While the device looks just like and SD card, it's not pin-compatible with the standard -- the idea is to leverage a reliable and affordable connector for the Electric Imp. The module is not very useful on its own -- it only comes to life when inserted into one of several boards, which provide the Electric Imp with power and access to the real world. In turn the device gives these boards a brain and an Internet connection. Eventually the company hopes that appliance manufacturers will incorporate Electric Imp slots into products to make them network aware.

We talked with CEO Hugo Fiennes (formerly with Apple) about the past, present and future of the Electric Imp so hit the break to read more and to watch our hands-on video.

Gallery: Electric Imp hands-on

Continue reading Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video)

Hands-on with the Electric Imp at Maker Faire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 00:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Remember that high-resolution variant of the Transformer Prime ASUS trotted out at CES? The federal government just finished putting it through its paces. The WiFi version of the firm's upcoming Transformer Pad Infinity (formally numbered TF700T) sauntered its way through the FCC, revealing itself as the slate's Tegra 3 option, if only for its lack of having a cellular radio. The tablet's LTE equipped sibling, however, was nowhere to be found -- though we're sure the feds will put it through the official gauntlet soon enough. Hit the source link below to dive into the official report.

ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity Series hits the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 00:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When you've got a marketing budget the size of Nike's, a few international footballers and a glossy video aren't really enough. That's why its latest "My time is now" campaign is an all out interactive spend-fest, complete with a hidden Sega Sonic the Hedgehog mini-game. The standard YouTube version (as seen over the break) isn't interactive, but head over to Nike's official channel, and it's a whole different ball game. Clicking on players slow-mos the action, bringing up player details etc., and there are nine hidden "tunnels' to find -- one of which being the Sonic game. Can you find it? Hint: look for the pitch-side adverts with go faster boot on. Your time is now...

Continue reading Elaborate Nike YouTube video has hidden Sonic Game (video)

Elaborate Nike YouTube video has hidden Sonic Game (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 01:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's face it: right now, the head nods and other rudimentary controls of Google's Project Glass are mostly useful for looking good, sharing photos and not much else. A US patent application submitted last September and just now published, however, raises the possibility of more sophisticated control coming from your hands. A ring, a bracelet or a even a fake fingernail with an infrared-reflective layer would serve as a gesture control marker for a receiver on heads-up display glasses. Having this extra control would give the glasses-mounted computing room to grow by learning gestures, and it could even depend on multiple ornaments for more sophisticated commands -- at least, if you don't mind looking like a very nerdy Liberace. We can imagine the headaches a hand-based method might cause for very enthusiastic talkers, among other possible hiccups, so don't be surprised if Project Glass goes without any kind of ring input. That said, we suspect that Sauron would approve.

Google patent application could give Project Glass one true ring controller to rule them all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Who knew that owning a ZTE Score M would mean living life on the edge? ZTE has confirmed that the MetroPCS phone has a backdoor vulnerability which could let a less-than-scrupulous hacker get root-level control over the Android 2.3 phone -- and because it's a unique app baked into the firmware, the login credentials won't change as long as the exploit survives. Other ZTE phones, like the Skate, supposedly face the same hole as well. The company says it should have a patch ready to push over the air in the "very near future," but it hasn't said why the app existed in the first place. Either way, if you currently pocket the Score M or one of ZTE's other recent Android devices, we'd keep watch for any suspicious goings-on until a fix is in place.

ZTE confirms the Score M has a backdoor, hopes to patch up soon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.