Sure, Taito is a veritable grandfather of the arcade world, but ¥15,800 ($209) for a nostalgic iPad Space Invaders box with one lonely einzelkind fire button? Atari also has some standing in this business and its worthy alternative costs just $60, while even the genre-founding iCade now seems a bargain at $100. Anyways, check out the video after the break to see an old Japanese bloke waiting patiently for his refund.

Continue reading Taito InvaderCade for iPad brings invasive price tag (video)

Taito InvaderCade for iPad brings invasive price tag (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like the Samsung Hercules name won't live on in mobile infamy, after all. Canadian carrier Telus is now the second (and last) company to shed the Greek God title in favor of the more traditional Galaxy S II moniker -- albeit with its own unique twist, of course. The company's got an official page up for its forthcoming flagship, dubbed the "4G Samsung Galaxy S II X." Talk about a mouthful, right? The device mirrors T-Mobile's version rather closely, improving upon the original model with a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED Plus display, HSPA+ download speeds of up to 42Mbps and -- here's where it gets interesting -- a 1.5GHz dual-core CPU. We're still unsure of the chipmaker responsible for supporting the AWS 4G radio, but our money's on the Qualcomm APQ8060. The ever-frustrating "coming soon" is attached to the page, which seems to be fairly common practice with new phones lately; regardless, we imagine enough people will be willing to forgive and forget once their future toy decides to show up.

4G Samsung Galaxy S II X coming to Telus, still as Herculean as ever originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We haven't heard much from outspoken former Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci since he left the company back in March of this year, but it looks like he's now ready to get back into the PC business in a slightly different role. Lenovo confirmed today that Lanci is joining the company as a consultant to "help develop and accelerate Lenovo's worldwide consumer business." Initially, those efforts will be mostly focused on Lenovo's integration of German PC manufacturer Medion, which it acquired in June for $907 million, but it sounds like this is more than just a short-term gig -- he does get to stay in Italy, though. Head on past the break for Lenovo's complete statement.

Continue reading Ex-Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci joins Lenovo as a consultant

Ex-Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci joins Lenovo as a consultant originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Downloaders of the Windows 8 Developer Preview have been proving their mettle the best way they know how: by getting it to run on systems it was never really intended for. Brent and the folks at Codesnack win the Real Utility trophy for their successful Boot Camp installs. Josh Blake gets the Damn I Look Good By Candlelight trophy for making the OS run on the MS Surface in his living room. Meanwhile, Marcin Grygiel has awarded himself the I'm HARDCORE!!! title for somehow getting it to run on a PC with just 128MB. Treat yourself to some intimate video evidence after the break.

[Thanks, Prashanth]

Continue reading Windows 8 ain't fussy: runs on Macs, Surface, 128MB RAM, banana peel (videos)

Windows 8 ain't fussy: runs on Macs, Surface, 128MB RAM, banana peel (videos) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Codesnack, Marcin Grygiel (YouTube), Josh Blake (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

The world's largest mobile operator and the heretofore scrappy WiMAX provider have linked arms to accelerate the rollout and adoption of time-division LTE (TD-LTE) across China. While there's little chatter about an infrastructure build-up itself, China Mobile and Clearwire have established an agreement "to cultivate a robust device ecosystem that supports multi-mode, multi-band devices with minimum component complexity and cost," with particular emphasis on the common 2.5GHz spectrum. More specifically, the collaboration will work to build up a high volume of TD-LTE chipsets and devices for commercial availability in 2012. If Sprint were to purchase (or make a significant investment in) Clearwire, this deal could be especially important, but for the time being, the company is finding some independence from the uncomfortable love triangle that's brewing between itself, Sprint and LightSquared. While there's no telling what sort announcement will come on October 7th, it's nice to see Clearwire secure an international lover that's willing to commit to a shared LTE vision. You'll find the full PR after the break.

Continue reading Clearwire announces deal with China Mobile to accelerate TD-LTE deployment

Clearwire announces deal with China Mobile to accelerate TD-LTE deployment originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hmmm, wonder what brought this on? Sony's gone and changed the lingo in its PSN user agreement to require binding arbitration to settle any future disputes -- making it much harder for disgruntled customers to get their day in court. Want to keep your right to sue? You can opt out of the arbitration requirement by sending a letter to Sony's lawyers saying you'll be keeping your courtroom entry card, thank you very much. Additionally, the change won't affect class-action litigation started by August 20th of this year. That means people whose privacy was compromised in the great PSN outage of 2011 that already filed suit needn't be concerned. For the rest of you, we'd advise breaking out the pen and paper ASAP if you wanna keep the halls of justice open for future complaints.

New PSN user agreement makes it harder to sue Sony: class actions out (sort of), arbitrations in originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Less than 24 hours after it went live on Microsoft's site, Steve Ballmer reported a whopping 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 Developer Preview. That's half a million copies, if not eager Windows fans. Well, you can count us among them. Although we were treated to some private hands-on time with a tablet optimized for the OS, we hadn't, until now, had a chance to use it on a laptop -- i.e., the computing environment where we spend most of our time, and the one where we're most used to seeing Windows, in particular.

For the past three days, we've been doing just that: getting acquainted with Windows 8 using the good 'ol mouse-and-keyboard combo. And while that might read like a redundant statement (what recent version of Windows hasn't accommodated a cursor?), Win 8 is a peculiar breed -- It's the first version of the operating system where finger input wasn't an afterthought, but a first-class citizen. It's clear that this time around, Windows is optimized for touch, but we had to wonder if that Windows Phone-inspired UI would present a steep learning curve, if it would get in the way while we tried to go about business as usual. So how's that working out for us? Suffice to say, we're not in Kansas anymore, so find your most comfortable chair and meet us after the break -- we've got oh-so many details to delve into.

Gallery: Windows 8 Developer Preview (user interface and settings)

Continue reading Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video)

Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Manufacturers and service providers are really kicking it up a notch this week! AT&T will hit us with a big dose of speed on Sunday, Microsoft had a slew of mixed/delicious news for us at Build, and HTC's got its hands in a liiiiiitttttle bit of everything, from releases to maybe OS acquisitions. We'll lay it all out for you here, with an added touch of Volpe to round things out, on the Engadget Mobile Podcast.

Host: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen
Guest: Joseph Volpe
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Daestro - Light Powered (Ghostly International)

00:01:19 - Samsung Epic 4G Touch review 00:22:48 - AT&T to officially deploy its LTE network September 18th 00:27:18 - AT&T announces Windows Phone Mango lineup coming this fall, existing devices to be updated 00:30:28 - RIM's Q2 earnings report: $329 million in net income, not enough to fend off critics
00:40:17 - HTC Bliss to be called the Rhyme, launching September 20? 00:45:39 - HTC Runnymede and Bliss details sneak out from leak-town 00:57:58 - HTC chairwoman Cher Wang: we might buy a mobile OS, if it feels right 01:05:20 - Motorola Admiral outed as mystery Sprint Direct Connect device, strikes a pose for the camera 01:09:55 - Motorola Electrify coming to US Cellular this month as a rebranded Photon 4G 01:10:50 - LG Marquee for Sprint hands-on (video)
01:13:39 - Sprint axes Premier program, no more annual upgrades for Gold customers 01:20:50 - Ballmer: Windows Phones aren't selling very well, but we're not worried 01:29:00 - Listener questions

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 104 - 09.16.2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flash fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief -- Adobe has confirmed that the next version of Windows will, in fact, support work built on its once ubiquitous web publishing platform. Windows 8 PCs and tablets with x86 or ARM processors will support the platform -- in the more traditional desktop mode, that is. The version of Internet Explorer 10 built for that interface will play nicely with Flash. Those users who opt for the new Metro UI, on the other hand, will be out of luck on the Flash front, thanks to a lack of plug-in support. Between Adobe's work in the HTML5 world and the ability to build Flash-like apps using Air for the Metro interface, however, the company seems to have most of its bases covered in Windows 8 land. Check out evidence of Flash running in Windows 8 after the break, courtesy of Qualcomm.

Continue reading Adobe: yep, your Windows 8 system will support Flash -- sometimes (video)

Adobe: yep, your Windows 8 system will support Flash -- sometimes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the Tesla Roadster's tenure drawing to a close and a proper two-seat replacement seemingly just a twinkle in Peter Rawlinson's eye at this point, there's something of a coming void in the world of the electric supercar. Artega would love to fill that with the SE. It's an all-electric version of the company's GT supercar, and while the GT will not see a release on American shores, we got confirmation from Artega that the battery-powered SE will -- eventually. The 375 horsepower motor drives the car to 62MPH in 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 126.5. Maximum range is 172 miles, but drive the car "more enthusiastically" and you can expect a more realistic 124.

The car was announced earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show and here in Frankfurt we were able to spend a few minutes ogling its curves in a variety of interesting colors, including one model with a cut-away fender showing off the positioning of some of the 16 battery modules. 12 of those are scattered around the rear of the car, while four are up front, giving the car a rearward-biased 40:60 weight distribution. Cost is said to be 150,000 euro, or about $207,000. That's nearly twice the cost of a Roadster. Worth it? We'll see.

Gallery: Artega SE electric supercar

Gallery: Artega SE press shots

Artega SE electric supercar is coming to the US, we go eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anyone who commutes to a big city knows how loud and distracting things can get -- whether it's the whine of a bus engine, a subway car's ca-clank or just that screaming baby seated behind you. Some folks may find cranking jams through their headphones helpful for blocking out the world, while others would prefer a bit more relative silence. Thankfully, in this modern age there exist headphones with noise-cancelling goodness to help you zone out.

Sony hasn't been a stranger to such cans, and recently introduced its $200 MDR-NC200D noise-cancelling headphones; a mid-range option for folks wanting similar benefits of its over-ear NC500D in an on-ear package. The claim is that these pups will reduce "98.2 percent of ambient noise" for up to 22 hours on a single AAA, so we sported the MDRs for the past few weeks as our primary set of headphones to hear for ourselves. You'll find all of the rock blockin' deets just after the break.

Gallery: Sony MDR-NC200D noise-cancelling headphones unboxing and hands-on

Continue reading Sony MDR-NC200D noise-cancelling headphones review

Sony MDR-NC200D noise-cancelling headphones review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wanted to learn DIY programming on the Arduino, but aren't interested in trawling through stacks of dusty technical manuals? Then pay attention: artist Jody Culkin has produced a paneled primer that explains electrical engineering from Ohms all the way through to building your own dimmer switch. Friendly, informative and most importantly, brief, by the time you've finished it, you'll be dashing down to IKEA to build your own Luxo Jr.

'Arduino: The Comic' will teach you to stop worrying and love programming originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that lawsuit Apple filed against a pair of Queens stores accused of selling fake iDevice accessories? Well, it looks like it's coming to a close. According to Reuters, Cupertino has reached a settlement with the two Chinatown-area retailers, both of which have agreed to hand over all products emblazoned with the Apple name or logo. If the settlement is approved, the two vendors, Fun Zone and Apple Story, will have five days to clear all counterfeit iPod and iPhone accessories from their inventories, along with any allegedly trademark-infringing promotional materials. The defendants, who maintain their innocence, would also be barred from destroying any records of sales, manufacturing or distribution of the unauthorized cases and headphones -- presumably as part of Apple's ongoing crusade against counterfeiters. Apple Story, meanwhile, would have to change its name, which bears an obvious similarity to another well-known outlet. The proposed settlement was filed with a Brooklyn District Court on Thursday and now awaits the approval of US District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto. Neither Apple nor the defendants have commented on the case.

Apple strikes settlement with NYC vendors accused of selling counterfeit products originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patent reform's been bandied about on Capitol Hill for years now, and last week we finally got both houses of Congress to agree on the language to make it happen. Today, in what was a foregone conclusion, President Obama has finally made the thing official by signing the America Invents Act into law. In doing so, he made the dream of a first-to-file patent system in the US a reality. Of course, it won't go into effect for another 18 months, so we'll have to wait awhile before we find out if it can curb all those companies' litigious inclinations. Video recap of the patent reform process after the break.

Continue reading Obama signs America Invents Act into law, makes patent reform a reality

Obama signs America Invents Act into law, makes patent reform a reality originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Woo, boy. We've been bursting at the seams to share this one, and it's finally time -- Engadget is teaming up with the one and only eBoy (read our introduction here) in order to open up our very own t-shirt shop! We've worked with eBoy over the years, and we've never been let down by their mind-blowing work. Every so often, we've offered up a stash of shirts for our dear readers to snap up, and every time, they were gone before sundown. That's just not right. To remedy said quandary, we've worked up a beautiful arrangement that'll have one of our favorite artists whipping out t-shirt designs for us, and they'll be handling the orders and logistics as they've been doing for years. Pre-orders are live worldwide right now, and initial shipments should start flowing around mid-October. Our first five designs are showcased in the gallery below, and if you're interested, surf on down to the source link below to grab one (or two!). They're priced at $24 (US / Canada), or €20 elsewhere, and if you're curious about sizing, have a look at American Apparel's size chart right here.

We hope you love 'em as much as we do, and we'll be giving 50 percent of the proceeds received to Child's Play Charity, which provides games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world.

Gallery: Engadget's Fall 2011 t-shirt collection, designed by eBoy!

The Engadget / eBoy t-shirt shop is officially open, pre-orders start today! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Prius fans, that long road to a promised plug-in hybrid's coming to an end. Toyota rolled out its production model PHV at the Green Drive Expo, announcing a March 2012 availability for the car, and a $32,000 price tag for the base model. The partial EV will be offered in two trim versions with a touchscreen audio / navigation display and Toyota's Entune in-car entertainment system to come standard, with the Heads Up display reserved for the advanced models. Expect to get about 87 MPGe with the auto in combined drive mode, and 49MPG when it switches to hybrid. As for that old NiMH battery, the new 4.4kWh Li-ion replacement gains a full charge after about three hours on a 120v source, and can re-up the juice in less than two hours on a 240v connection. You can dive into the PR for all the details after the break, and look forward to our in-depth hands-on in a few.

Continue reading Toyota's production model Prius Plug-in Hybrid gets official unveiling, available March 2012 for $32,000

Toyota's production model Prius Plug-in Hybrid gets official unveiling, available March 2012 for $32,000 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry folks, this colorful Series 3 lappy from Sammy is for the fine citizens of Korea only, at least for the moment. The 350U weighs in at just under three pounds and 0.8-inches thick, while housing a Core i5, up to a 640GB HD, a 12.5-inch anti-reflective screen, and a battery large enough to keep it chugging along for over eight hours. Really, the big difference between this notebook and the same-sized Series 3 shipping here in the states are the color options. While Americans all get the same gun-metal gray, our friends across the pacific can pick black, silver or pink (you know, for the ladies). The 350U is priced starting at 1,090,000 won, just over $1,000. Check out the gallery below.

Gallery: Samsung Series 3 350U

Samsung Series 3 350U laptop delivers colorful ultraportable computing to the Korean masses originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Boeing's decided to get in bed with Android a mile-high in the sky. The aerospace company has exclusively selected Google's mobile OS as the might behind its new class of 787 Dreamliners' in-flight entertainment. Currently in production jets, of which there are over 800 plus orders, will get outfitted with either a Panasonic or Thales model of the 7- to 17-inch screens. And in a strange twist of luxury privileges, first and business class passengers won't get to enjoy the touchscreen tech, as their monitors will be too large and too far out of reach. Instead, an alternate gesture-based control method is being explored by the company for elite travelers, although nothing's been solidified. Don't expect the planes to launch with the typical Android market experience, either -- apparently, "airline-specific apps" are on the way for the nascent fleets' launch. Now, if only they could replace those flight attendants with little green robots.

Boeing hitches Android to its 787 Dreamliner ride, powers in-flight options with Google juice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The above tweet says it all, folks -- the Nokia 700 and 701, two of the three Symbian Belle devices promised for a Q3 release last month, are shipping out to various retailers in just enough time to hit the deadline. As with many 140-character messages, it leaves us in wont for more information; we suppose, though, that most of the finer details were already given to us at the devices' unveiling, and now it's just up to the individual retailers to provide any missing pieces (if any) that remain. All that's left to do is decide on a suitable outlet, right?

Nokia now shipping 700 and 701 to retailers, all our Symbian Belle are belong to us originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've spent a few click days shooting click with click Sony's new click NEX-5N click click click and were very click impressed with its click still image performance click click but click noticed some... Oh man, we've gotta hit Stop. As you can see, the camera suffers from a rather significant yet-to-be-diagnosed condition that outputs a mysterious clicking sound whenever you move it about. Since it's quite faint, this is little more than a minor nuisance when shooting stills, but when you go to playback video click it's impossible to ignore, rendering the audio component of your video virtually useless.

We've been able to isolate the sound to the camera body itself, so it's completely independent of the lens and other accessories. We also happen to be testing a variety of new Sony products this week in San Diego, and had Sony reps on hand to acknowledge and confirm the issue, which seems to plague every NEX-5N that we've tried. This is still very fresh, so Sony doesn't have a fix or even a statement to issue, but because 1080/60p video is one of this camera's headline features, we're going to recommend holding off on your purchase until the company can confirm what's causing the issue. Jump past the break to hear it for yourself in our demo video.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Sony Alpha NEX-5N makes clicking sound when moved, renders captured audio useless (video)

Sony Alpha NEX-5N makes clicking sound when moved, renders captured audio useless (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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