Electronista | Gadgets for Geeks

Nest Learning Thermostat available in Apple stores soon?

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:50:00 GMT

Numerous reports claim that the Learning Thermostat from Nest will be available at Apple retail stores shortly. Nest is a company formed around developing and marketing the thermostat by Apple's former senior vice president and original iPod architect Tony Fadell. The thermostat is listed in Apple inventory databases, but MacNN has confirmed no stock is available to purchase at this time....

Cisco to drop Cius tablet, cites rise of BYOD offices

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:12:00 GMT

In a blog post this week, Cisco revealed that the company will no longer be producing the Cius. The enterprise-focused tablet was released last year but never caught on with business consumers, who are increasingly opting for Apple's iPad, and other competitors to a lesser extent, as a mobile computing solution....

Study: Windows XP support costs high and rising

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:00:00 GMT

A Microsoft-sponsored IDC report released yesterday claims that annual support costs for Windows XP systems are five times higher than a Windows 7 system, as part of the software maker's latest effort to push users to move to its most recent Windows version. Last month, Microsoft (with uncharacteristic frankness) issued a statement that told organizations that if they have not started "the migration to a modern PC, you are late." Windows XP will finally be completely orphaned by Microsoft with no further support or patches in April 2014, nearly 13 years after it launched....

Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo, Apple I motherboard

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:01:00 GMT

Auction house Sotheby's will be selling two bits of history soon -- one strongly related to Apple, the other less so -- both tied to the late Steve Jobs. On June 15, the company will be auctioning a rare working Apple I motherboard, one of only six known to exist in this state, and expected to fetch more than $180,000. Also being auctioned in a separate lot is a rare handwritten memo and typed report from Jobs from his time at Atari....

US Department of Commerce probes ZTE over Iran tech sales

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:36:00 GMT

Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer ZTE is reportedly under investigation by the US Department of Commerce over alleged sales of embargoed US computer equipment to Iran. Commerce Department officials close to the investigation tell Reuters that the department is aggressively conducting its investigation, and fines for ZTE could range into the tens of millions of dollars....

Yahoo to discontinue Livestand app after six months

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:25:00 GMT

Yahoo announced today that the company will be discontinuing its personalized digital newspaper app, Livestand, after just six months of availability in the App Store. As detailed in a posting on the Yahoo Corporate Blog, the move is part of a greater push by the web company to refocus its efforts into a mobile-products-first model, with a greater focus on software offerings for tablets, smartphones, and other connected devices....

Sony blog refreshes Xperia ICS list, Play confirmed removed

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:20:00 GMT

The official Sony blog published an update today, detailing the progress on Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) upgrades on Xperia smartphones. As noted yesterday, the Xperia Play has been removed from the upgrade list. All other upgrades are proceeding as previously announced....

US representatives want Google Street View reinvestigated

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:07:00 GMT

Representative Frank Pallone Jr (D-NJ), and John Barrow (D-GA) are pushing the Department of Justice to reopen the completed investigation of Google's Street View and Wi-Fi data harvesting while mapping America's streets. Pallone stated "In light of the FCC report on Google Wi-Spy -- which revealed Google intentionally collected personal information from AmericansóI urge the Department of Justice to re-evaluate the Google Wi-Spy incident." The FCC and DoJ report on the incident found no laws were broken by Google during the mapping, despite Pallone's interpretation of the investigation that th...

Oppo shows off Finder, world's thinnest smartphone

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:43:00 GMT

Chinese electronics manufacturer Oppo appears to be readying to release the Finder, a smartphone that is claimed to snag the title of World's Slimmest at just over a quarter of an inch in depth. A video showing off the slim handset was released yesterday, and specs for the device have been appearing on numerous tech blogs....

Dell Windows 8 tablet specs, images leak

Fri, 25 May 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Leaked images have emerged purporting to show both photos and specs for two forthcoming Dell tablets running Windows 8. The images appeared yesterday on tech site Neowin, and apparently show the Dell Latitude 10 and XPS 12. Dell has already affirmed that the company will be one of the very first to release Windows 8 tablets, but these images appear to be the most concrete evidence to emerge to date with regard to features and capabilities for those offerings....

MIT students make Minority Report-style iPad control system

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:02:00 GMT

Researchers at the MIT Media Lab have created a Minority Report-style glove and iPad input system for three-dimensional virtual object manipulation called T(ether). The system lets the team use motion tracking on gloves to create and alter virtual items with the iPads used as a point-of-view window to see what the users are manipulating. A demonstration video shows the system having multiple users simultaneously affecting the compter-generated world, both with and without the glove....

First Project Glass video samples, more photos emerge

Fri, 25 May 2012 19:42:00 GMT

The first video taken with Google's Project Glass wearable computing device has shown up on the Internet. The video is part of a collection of media, all produced with Project Glass, that was posted to a Google+ Photography Conference album. The 15-second clip, in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a first-person video game, shows Project Glass' view as the wearer jumps and somersaults on a trampoline....

ViewSonic teases 22-inch Android tablet, more for Computex

Fri, 25 May 2012 18:15:00 GMT

ViewSonic, best known for its wallet-friendly TVs and computer monitors, is now teasing a new range of Android-powered tablets. The Touch and Connect range is said to be in prototype form, and is headlined by the 22-inch model, thus far known only as a smart business tablet monitor. It appears to be running on Android 4.0, though it may also eventually get a model with Windows 8 onboard and multi-touch capability....

Rumor: Facebook buying Opera team to make own browser

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:57:00 GMT

Facebook may be planning to buy Opera Software, maker of the Opera web browser, according to a rumor. Sources of Pocket Lint say that the social network is looking towards making its own browser, which would put it alongside Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, and Yahoo, and the purchase of Opera Software and its technology would save Facebook from having to build one from the ground up....

Toshiba doesn't plan to offer any more netbooks in US

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:49:00 GMT

Toshiba won't bring any new netbooks to the US market, a company executive told Liliputing. This means that the NB510 netbook powered by Intel's Atom N2600 processor introduced at CES won't be sold in the US. Instead, Toshiba America will sell ultrabook computers, which are lighter and thinner, but also more expensive....

Verizon may have to sell some AWS spectrum from cable deal

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:05:00 GMT

Verizon's $3.6 billion buy of AWS spectrum may be approved by the FCC after all, analysts believe, though it will require a number of conditions. For one, it may have to give up some of its spectrum, and has already offered to give some up in the past. What may stand in the way is the conditions of the sale, with all involved trying to get the most of it, CNET reported....

Absinthe 2.0 does untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:47:00 GMT

An anticipated untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1 devices has been released by hacker pod2g and the Chronic Dev Team. Called Greenpois0n Absinthe 2.0, the software is notable not only for supporting the latest version of Apple's iOS firmware, but also reportedly almost all A4 and A5 devices, including the iPhone 4S and the third-generation iPad. Traditionally, support for A5 hardware has been difficult due to changes made by Apple that closed an earlier exploit. The one exception to support in Absinthe 2.0 is the revised iPad 2 equipped with a 32nm chipset....

DealNN roundup: refurb. 1.86GHz MacBook Air, only $899

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:15:00 GMT

Today's deals from DealNN include price breaks on MacBook Airs, power supplies, and more. Apple.com has recently lowered the cost of the refurbished 1.86GHz MacBook Air, sporting a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, 2GB of RAM, 128GB of Flash storage, and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Currently featured at DealNN, this model has now dropped $300 in price and can be purchased for only $899....

Images suggest Nokia working on four Windows Phone handsets

Fri, 25 May 2012 16:00:00 GMT

New images of a Nokia Lumia 800 handset running on wpbench revealed a list of Greek names for what we can only assume are codenames for upcoming Windows Phone-powered Nokia handsets. Shared by the My Nokia Blog, the images came from a user running the Windows Phone 7 benchmark on his Lumia 800. The names include Nokia PureLambda, Nokia Phi, Nokia Pure Phi and Nokia Alpha....

Trophy Cuddler Audio Sofa has speakers, iOS dock

Fri, 25 May 2012 15:19:00 GMT

UK furniture retailer DFS is offering the Trophy Cuddler Audio Sofa that has built-in speakers and a dock for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch. The sofa has two speakers and a subwoofer, though their power ratings aren't being listed. Other than docking iOS devices, there is also a USB port and 3.5mm auxiliary input for other audio sources....

Rumor: RIM drops plans to bring BBM to Android, iPhone

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:48:00 GMT

Research in Motion may not open up its BlackBerry Messenger service as previously thought. Rumors that the BBM service would expand to Android handsets and iPhones, as evidenced by a photo of a beta app, are in doubt following the replacement of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie by chief executive Thorsten Heins, according to an unnamed source speaking to the Wall Street Journal....

Review: Samsung Focus 2 Windows Phone for AT&T

Fri, 25 May 2012 14:10:00 GMT

Windows Phone fans currently face a limited selection of new devices, however a few companies, including Samsung, continue to release new offerings powered by Microsoft's mobile OS. Electronista checked out Samsung's Focus 2 earlier this month at CTIA's spring conference for a quick hands-on preview, however our full review takes a closer look at the latest budget-priced Windows Phone offering to arrive at AT&T....

Apple to integrate Baidu search into iOS

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:32:00 GMT

A report from Chinaís Sina Tech has tipped that Apple will integrate Baidu as a search engine in iOS for the Chinese iPhone. Baidu is the leading search engine in China with a massive 83.6 percent share of the market. The pairing is seen as mutually beneficial with Baidu gaining exposure on the smartphone platform with the most active on Chinaís mobile web, while its inclusion will be an additional selling point for the iPhone in China....

Pandora controls 70 percent of US Internet radio market

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:16:00 GMT

Internet radio service Pandora claims to control over 70 percent of the US Internet radio market. The company's recent earnings report covering the first quarter of the 2012-2013 fiscal year touted details of over 3 billion listening hours on the service by over 150 million users. The net loss for the year is expected to be up to $0.11 per share, despite both subscription and advertising revenue increasing in year-on-year comparisons....

AUO ships its first AMOLED displays to Sony, HTC in June

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:53:00 GMT

Taiwanese display giant AU Optronics is set to ship its first AMOLED mobile display panels to Sony and HTC in June, according to Digitimes. Currently, Samsung display division dominates the manufacture of AMOLED panels. However, AU Optronics yield rates are only at 20 percent on average at this early stage in its implementation of the technology, meaning that it will still be some time before it poses a serious competitive threat to Samsung....

Diablo III to get first client-side patch next week

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:50:00 GMT

Diablo III will get its first patch next week, according to Activision-Blizzard community manager 'Nethaera'. The incoming client-side patch will fix a number of bugs, including one that breaks the game, as well as a number of alterations to class skills to balance gameplay. Security concerns and the real-money auction house were also discussed in the forum post....

Google picks up webOS Enyo team, Open webOS still on track

Fri, 25 May 2012 10:33:00 GMT

Google is said to have hired the core employees of the webOS Enyo HTML 5 development project team. According to The Verge, the team members were hired individually by Google, but will regroup as a team when they start work with the search giant. Enyo is an HTML5-based application framework for webOS and plays an integral part in HPís plans to open-source the mobile OS. HP has since issued as statement saying that the staff departures will not impact its planned late 2012 release schedule for Open webOS....

US TSA seeking $3 million in Apple hardware and services

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:36:00 GMT

The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may purchase up to $3 million in Apple hardware over the next three years. Up to a thousand Macintosh and a thousand iOS mobile devices purchases are planned. The Apple equipment has been declared to be "critical to meet a variety of operational, programmatic, and mission-specific requirements" by the TSA....

Briefly: Bing and Nokia, no ICS for Xperia Play, TWC app

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:15:00 GMT

Following last year's Microsoft partnership with Nokia, Bing Maps is the latest product to see a benefit. Starting today, users in 24 countries will be able to view active traffic data in Bing Maps as a result of Nokia services integration. United States traffic coverage will include side street traffic as well as freeway information. Behind the scenes, Nokia's geocoding services are now being used to offer improved turn-by-turn directions....

Nvidia details 'Grey' SoC plans; 30 Tegra 3 phones for 2012

Fri, 25 May 2012 03:43:00 GMT

As part of Nvidia's annual investor meeting, the company's GM of Tegra operations, Mike Rayfield, boasted that the quad-core Tegra 3 platform is proving to be quite popular, powering 30 different smartphones that are expected to arrive on the market before the end of the year. Nearly half of the models are said to carry a transfer price below $300, in contrast to current Tegra 3-equipped phones that tend toward the high end of the price spectrum....

Apple CEO Tim Cook refuses $75M dividend on restricted stock

Fri, 25 May 2012 02:59:00 GMT

Apple earlier today filed an 8-K form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that the board of directors has decided to give restricted stock holders the same $2.65-per-share dividend they expect to give public shareholders. CEO Tim Cook has requested he not be awarded the dividend, however, costing him an estimated $75 million dollars over the next decade....

Dish Network sued by Fox, NBC, CBS over auto ad-skipper

Fri, 25 May 2012 02:10:00 GMT

Fox, NBCUniversal, and CBS have all filed suit independently against Dish Network over the new AutoHop service, which with the right set-top box allows viewers to automatically skip commercials, assuming the recorded content isn't watched on the day of broadcast. The broadcast networks call the DVR technology a violation of their copyrights, a danger to quality programming, and an assault on their financial ecosystem. In an effort to counter the separate legal attacks, Dish has filed a countersuit against the three, plus ABC, in an attempt to establish the legality of advertisement skipping....

Mac Pro fan petitions Apple for new Mac Pro

Fri, 25 May 2012 01:51:00 GMT

An Apple fan dissatisfied with the attention the company has paid to its Mac Pro line of recent has taken to Facebook, posting a fan page petitioning the computer maker to refresh its line of professional-level desktops, or at least to let Mac Pro fans know what is going on with the line. The page has subsequently taken off, with more than 4,100 Likes and a number of shares from users around the world....

Google details takedown requests; Microsoft tops list

Fri, 25 May 2012 01:28:00 GMT

Google has shed more light on URL takedown requests that it receives from various companies reacting to alleged copyright violations. The search giant has broadened its transparency reports to visualize trends, highlighting the surge in takedown notices. More than 1.2 million takedown requests were processed just last month, issued from thousands of copyright owners and reporting organizations....

RealNetworks to set up $2M fund for overcharging users

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:57:00 GMT

Online media company RealNetworks has settled a lawsuit brought by the Washington State Attorney General regarding the company's practice of charging some users for services they did not want. MSNBC reports that, over the course of seven years, more than 500 people complained to the Better Business Bureau about RealNetworks' practices. As a result of the settlement, RealNetworks will establish a $2 million compensation fund for subscribers who were overcharged between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009....

Motorola phones face German sales ban over Microsoft patent

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:45:00 GMT

The Munich Regional Court has found Motorola to be in violation of Microsoft's text-messaging patent involving "communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardized interface." The judgement follows an International Trade Commission-ordered import ban against Android-based Motorola devices that infringe on a different Microsoft patent for event scheduling....

Android, iOS account for 80 percent of Q1 smartphone sales

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:46:00 GMT

Research firm IDC has published its latest smartphone market-share report, finding Android and iOS to be responsible for eight out of 10 smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012. Android captured 59 percent of all sales, while iOS took 23 percent of the 152 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter. Linux phones maintained the same small share held for four quarters. Symbian and Blackberry shipments continued to drop precipitously....

Intel developing computers to learn, mimic human brain

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:10:00 GMT

Intel is looking to expand beyond its traditional semiconductor business and develop computers that can learn about their user, Reuters reports. To that end, the company is said to be making a significant investment in research that could yield devices that mimic the human brain by 2014 or 2015....

Facebook intros iPhone camera app

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:17:00 GMT

Facebook has launched its own camera app for the iPhone (free, App Store), complementing the social network's existing iOS utilities. Following on the heels of the company's recent Instagram buyout, Facebook Camera provides a photo editor that can be used to crop shots or apply various filters....

Google Play adds in-app subscription purchases

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:40:00 GMT

Google has introduced in-app subscriptions to its Play store, according to the a post on the company's official Android developers blog. From today, App developers can use in-app billing to sell monthly or annual subscriptions from within the app itself. The addition brings Google's app portal in line with the Apple App Store in offering recurring billing to its customers and developers, with all subscriptions being auto-renewing by default....

Google provides teachers, Raspberry Pis for UK schools

Thu, 24 May 2012 21:37:00 GMT

Google is working with British charity Teach First to provide teachers and computing equipment to disadvantaged communities. The search giant will donate funding to support 100 teachers, with the aim of increasing student exposure to the basics of computer science. As the BBC reports, the program will make use of the Raspberry Pi, a tiny, low-cost computer that plugs directly into a display's HDMI input....

Apple licenses SimpleAir patents, avoids infringement suit

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:57:00 GMT

Apple has reportedly established a licensing agreement with patent holder SimpleAir, putting an end to the patent infringement battle that began late in 2009. SimpleAir had filed its original lawsuit in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Texas, a venue frequented by plaintiffs in intellectual-property lawsuits, however the settlement was said to have been reached shortly before the formal proceedings commenced....

Third-gen iPad surpasses original in US sales

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:52:00 GMT

Just two months after being introduced, the third-generation 2012 iPad has managed to catch up to the market share of the first-generation iPad in the US, market analysis firm Localytics reports. The new model now accounts for over 20 percent of all US-based iPads, just over the percentage of active first-generation iPads. The iPad 2, released in 2011 and still available new for $100 less than its original price, leads the pack....

New York lawmakers attempt to ban anonymous online speech

Thu, 24 May 2012 20:02:00 GMT

New York State Senator Thomas O'Mara is attempting to push "right to know" legislation that would effectively ban online speech posted anonymously. The bill aims to "amend the civil rights law" to "protect a person's right to know who is behind an anonymous Internet posting."...

Netflix coy on cable cannibalization

Thu, 24 May 2012 19:29:00 GMT

Netflix has admitted that it may play a role in keeping its subscribers from doing "something." That, Ad Age...

Foxconn, Sharp to build China plant for iPhone displays

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:56:00 GMT

Just two months after Foxconn bought a 10 percent stake in Sharp, the two companies have announced a collaboration on a plant in Chengdu, China that will be used to build iPhone displays and potentially displays for other products. Foxconn will build the plant, and Sharp will assist by supplying technology, which may be used to further expand its ability to produce displays using its IGZO formulation, along with possible poly-silicon LCD screens....

Briefly: Bump photo transfers, Facebook app updates

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:41:00 GMT

Application and file sharing app Bump (free) has been updated to allow for photo transfers between a phone and a computer. Users of the app can go to the Bump website on a computer, then after selecting photos to share, can bump the phone into the spacebar to send the images to the browser. Images could then be saved to the computer or shared through social networks with a short link....

Huawei's flagship Ascend P1 passes FCC testing

Thu, 24 May 2012 18:13:00 GMT

The Huawei Ascend P1 smartphone has now completed FCC testing. The Chinese phone-maker still hasn't revealed any official launch information for the 4.3-inch flagship, and it's missed its originally promised April reveal date. This FCC approval means the company is at least certified to sell the handset in the US....

Android Malware Project to foster security collaboration

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:19:00 GMT

Security researchers have started work on a project to combat malware on Android-based devices. Led by researchers at NC State and masterminded by Xuxian Jiang, the Android Malware Genome Project aims to look at the way malware works in an effort to protect current Android builds and future iterations of the mobile operating system. The collaborative effort is a stark contrast from normal antivirus developers, which typically keep their findings private....

Google+ v2.6 for Android now out, brings new UI, more

Thu, 24 May 2012 17:12:00 GMT

Google has just began offering the latest version of its Google+ app for Android, version 2.6 (free, Google Play). The update includes a refreshed user interface and a better integration with the Hangout video chat feature. Dubbed Mobile Hangouts, video chats with up to nine friend can now be initiated while users are on the move....