Moto X leaks in more press shots, this time in white Mobile

A new leak gives further evidence that the Moto X smartphone will be released across multiple carriers in late August. Hot on the heels of this morning comes a couple more press shots of the Moto X. According to an image published by AndroidCentral ,Motorola’s upcoming smartphone will launch on U.S. Cellular on August 26th. An earlier report suggested that the device would be available from Verizon on August 23rd, so it looks like Google and Motorola are gearing up for a late August launch . The color of Moto X will be glorious unicorn white although Motorola’s been pretty clear the phone will be available in custom color. The Moto X is expected to be equipped with a 720p display, a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, a 10-megapixel camera and a nearly stock version of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It has also been reported that certain aspects of the smartphone will be able to be customized by the user, such as choosing different colors and being able to have a custom engraving on the back of the device

 

Archos launches ChefPad, a 9.7-inch Android tablet for your kitchen

Does your kitchen need a 9.7-inch Jelly Bean tablet to call its own? No, it certainly does not. But if your budget can accommodate such a device, it might look just like the Archos ChefPad, “the perfect tablet for the cooking enthusiast.” Under the splash-resistant case, you’ll find a standard suite of tablet specs. There’s a 1.6GHz dual-core CPU, 1 gig of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and front- and rear-facing 2-megapixel cameras, along with a pair of speakers and a built-in mic, making the device suitable for both playing back cooking lessons and recording your own. In addition to that red silicone case, you’ll receive a dedicated stand to match — both will ship in the box, along with the tablet, for just $210 this June.

source : engadget

Hands-on with the iConsole.tv, an Android-powered game system with the heart of a desktop PC

 

Pry open any Android-powered game console on the market today, and you’ll likely find a mobile processor — an ARM-based chip originally designed for tablets, smartphones and maybe the odd specialty device. It seems to make sense — after all, isn’t Android a mobile OS? Christopher Price, CEO of Mobile Media Ventures, doesn’t seem to think so. “Android is the future of personal computing,” Price told Engadget. “Even on the desktop.” According to Price, developers just haven’t had a chance to play with a truly powerful Android gaming machine. So, naturally, he’s building one. Despite its Apple-esque name, the iConsole.tv is billed as the most powerful Android device to date. It’s a bold claim, but the specs add up: the company’s Unit 00 developer kit runs Android on a 3.3GHz Intel Ivy Bridge CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and two 500GB hard drives. Graphics are handled by Intel’s integrated HD 4000 chipset — a surprisingly capable GPU, though still a far cry from dedicated hardware. Price stressed that these specifications are for the $999 developer version the company announced today. The final product’s build hasn’t been finalized, but we were told it would ring it at a notably lower price. Still, considering all that power, we had to wonder why MMV chose Android. Price reiterated the potential he sees in the platform. “We’re pushing the envelope and adapting it for high-performance gaming, but we see Android being the change agent in personal computing, on the TV and the desktop. People hate walled gardens, and they hate maintaining their PCs. Android can solve that, and we’re going to help make that happen.”

source : engadget

 

Google combines Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photo storage into a common 15GB pool

 

Google’s efforts to streamline aren’t limited to some spring cleaning and more spartan interfaces. Today the company is breaking down the artificial walls between the pools of online storage provided for Gmail, Drive and Google+ Photos. Instead of 10GB for all your messages and attachments, alongside a separate 5GB repository for your photos and documents, now all three sites share a common 15GB slice on Google’s servers. So, if you happen to be a little photo crazy, but are nowhere near the limit on your Gmail account, you no longer need to rely on workarounds like archiving images as attachments. This also means that storage upgrades for Gmail no longer top out at 25GB. There’s also a handy new visualization that shows how much of your available storage you’re using and breaks it down by service for finer-grained tracking. Update: If you’re a Google Apps customer your available cloud storage will also be unified, leaving you with 30GB shared between all three services.

source :engadget

 

Sony reveals prototype 13.3-inch e-ink slate with stylus, aims to put it in students’ bags

 

Sony’s no stranger to the odd e-ink device, but its latest prototype creation isn’t targeted at the bookworm, it’s intended to educate. The e-paper slate is quite a lot bigger than most tablets, let alone e-readers, sporting a 13.3-inch screen (1,200 x 1,600) to match the standard A4 size of normal, boring paper. That display is also an electromagnetic induction touchscreen for poking at menus and scrolling, but more importantly, it supports stylus input for scrawling notes and annotating PDFs (the only file format it currently supports). The prototype device is also only 6.8mm (0.27 inch) thick and weighs 385g (13.6 ounces) — perfect for slipping into school bags. There’s 4GB of on-board storage (with a microSD slot to increase that) and WiFi, which Sony plans to use for sharing notes with those who didn’t make it to class on time. With WiFi off, the rechargeable battery inside is expected to last for three weeks of solid learning. These specs are for the prototype, of course, so after the late-2013 field trials at three Japanese universities, we might see some revisions before commercialization goes ahead sometime during the 2013 fiscal year.

source : engadget

 

Sony Xperia ZR announced, allows underwater photography down to five feet of depth

 

Sony’s ratcheted up its water-resistant device tech a notch with the launch of the Xperia ZR, a new 4.6-inch, 720p Android smartphone that’s waterproof to 1.5 meters (5 feet). Sony boasts that its new device will let you film your snorkeling adventures in full HD quality, with HDR in both video or 13-megapixel stills thanks to the Exmor RS image sensor — there’s also a dedicated camera button like the one on the Xperia ZL. The handset packs a Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core 1.5GH CPU, 2GB RAM, LTE, NFC, Sony’s Walkman album and movie apps and a notable OptiContrast OLED screen with Bravia tech to reduce glare “even in bright sunlight.” There’s no word yet on pricing or availability, but as soon as we hear more, we’ll try to prep you ahead of that next beach-bound holiday. Meanwhile, you can check the galleries, PR and video after the break for more. Update: As Xperia Blog found out, the Xperia ZR is actually the international version of Japan’s upcoming Xperia A SO-04E — the one we saw popping up in the FCC database.

source :engadget

 

Switched On: Three days without Google Glass

 

The television. The PC. The cellphone. We take the things in these sentence fragments for granted today, but they took many years to enter the mainstream. Could Google Glass herald the next great product that we will one day wonder how we lived without? Based on three days of not using the product, you may want to ask someone else.

DAY ONE

I visit my optometrist, who confirms that I still need an eyeglass prescription and therefore cannot effectively try the Explorer Edition of Google Glass. Maybe I can roll my own. I head down to the local Toys R Us and pick up a Disney Princess tiara that I sand down to its bare headband structure. I glue a Looxcie HD to the band along with a small ice cube in front of my eye. Alas, the prototype is a failure; every time I look toward the heavens expecting to see Google Glass users skydiving toward the Earth, as they are wont to do, the ice cube melts onto the Looxcie, ruining the shot.

DAY TWO

I’ve begun to notice people treating me exactly the same as they did before I made the bold decision to forego Google Glass. Testing a hypothesis that we overestimate our need for the latest technology, I begin to try out the impact of a wink gesture in public. This result in my getting slapped a lot even though I am not covertly recording anyone. I’ve also become conscious of the number of times per day I must reach into my pocket to access my smartphone, only to suffer through the emasculation of swiping gestures, each unlock draining further testosterone from my being. Strangers on the subway approach me, inquiring, “Hey, did that smartphone you’re using come with a matching dress? “IN contrast, few are aware of Google Glass’ steroid-like effect on its wearers. The high-tech brow appendage not only helps you identify the market value of any vehicle you see on the street; it can also actually help you lift it. And unlike today’s Explorer Edition, the consumer version of Glass will not grow hair on the lips of women who wear it.

DAY THREE

It’s been a rough few days adjusting to life without Google Glass. I might pour myself a stiff beverage #ifihadaglass, but instead I’ve decided to cope with some retail therapy. It turns out that the $1,500 that wasn’t spent on augmented reality eyewear can be applied to a pretty tantalizing array of options, such as:

Two unlocked, top-of-the-line smartphones to provide virtually all of Glass’ functionality for you and a prescription glasses-wearing friend.

A MacBook Air, iPad mini with Smart Cover and Apple TV.

An HP Envy x2, Sony NEX-3N, Roku 3 and Pebble watch.

A Surface Pro, Samsung Galaxy S 4 on contract, Kindle Fire HD and non-prescription magnifying glasses from Walgreens.

CONCLUSIONS

My three days without Google Glass left many unanswered questions. What is the social price for having technology at the ready and the compromises we are willing to make for it? Can we move beyond the stigmas that have limited the usage of Bluetooth headsets? How do you keep an ice cube frozen all day long? And would Tim Stevens’ dogs be willing to play fetch with me? Sadly, for the time being, I must now resume my Google Glass-free life. Please join me on my next great adventure as I spend a year on the internet.

source :engadget

 

‘Google Play Games’ uncovered as Android’s home for invites, achievements and more

 

A Google-built alternative to Game Center on iOS and Games Hub on Windows Phone surfaced last month, and we know even more about it. Android Police dug into a new Play Services (an Android component you don’t access directly, but does things like update Google apps) APK, and found the latest version hid a massive update getting ready for Google Play Games. Although it’s not directly accessible yet, so far it’s revealed support for system wide notifications, standardized notifications managed by Google+, and cloud synced game saves to work across multiple devices. Also built in are the other parts of any modern gaming service like matchmaking, leaderboards, achievements, lobbies and such. Exactly how all this works and how devs will put it to use will probably be revealed next week at Google I/O, but for now there are a few more screenshots beyond the source link.

source : engadget

 

Nokia’s colorful DC-18 portable USB charger matches your phone, shoes Nokia’s colorful DC-18 portable USB charger matches your phone, shoes

 

For the most part, battery packs have become what CD cases were in the late 90s — generic and utilitarian. Nokia’s new DC-18 portable chargers dare to be different. The sharp, tile-like designs house a modest 1,720 mAh cell, retractable micro-USB cable (that doubles as a a switch,) plus an LED battery level indicator that lights up when you extend the aforementioned appendage. It’s available in four colors (red, white, yellow and blue), but only in select regions right now. No word on when and for how much, but color-coordinators can keep pinging the source to find out.

source :engadget

 

Olympus PEN E-P5 sports impressive specs and classic good looks, we go hands-on

 

Last spring, we trekked two hours north of Vancouver to the bustling ski town of Whistler. Olympus, we were told, would be making a very significant announcement, and we needed to make our way to British Columbia to check it out. The product sample we walked away with, the OM-D E-M5, was indeed worth the trip — we quickly recognized the potential, and later dubbed the mirrorless shooter the “company’s best camera yet.” Its image quality, unique five-axis image stabilization and shockingly fast autofocus represented just some of the device’s most impressive features — we were smitten. So, when Olympus reached out with a similar teaser last month, we didn’t hesitate to make the same journey yet again to spend a day with this year’s MFT master. It’s the PEN E-P5, and you probably knew it was coming. Details and even a few product shots leaked to the web last week, revealing a gorgeous, classic design, and some pretty impressive specifications, many of which have made their way from the E-M5. There’s a 16-megapixel sensor with five-axis stabilization, 1080/30p video, a 1.04M-dot 3-inch touchscreen that tilts up and down, a 1/8000-second maximum shutter speed (enabling more shallow depth of field in sunlight), an ISO range of 100-25,600, a 0.5-second start-up time and OM-D-like autofocus speeds that let the camera adjust for a subject quickly regardless of the lighting conditions. It’s plenty impressive on paper, but how did it hold up during our test? Read on to find out.

source : engadget