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Nintendo partners with Best Buy so you can play unreleased Wii U games in store during E3 (video)

Posted by Gsurface on May 19, 2013 No comments

There’s nothing more frustrating than watching a product or service get announced, then having to wait an age to try it out. Nintendo hears that, and has announced via Nintendo Direct, that during E3 week, Best Buy will have playable demos of as-yet released Wii U games in 100 stores across the US and Canada. Given that no one was likely expecting any new hardware from the firm, it’s clear the gaming stalwart is looking for other ways to stir-up some interest. There’s no mention of titles, so we’re left to assume they’d be the games announced at the show. Either way, scratch out that week in June to make sure you find out first hand. Scrub right to the end of the video past the break to see the announcement for yourself.

Filed under: Gaming, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

Google Betting Its Google+ Systems Know What’s Best For You

Posted by Gsurface on May 16, 2013 No comments

Nerval’s Lobster writes “But at this year’s Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Google announced that it has a plan to make Google Plus users more engaged, courtesy of new features backed by a handful of data-analytics tricks. Google Plus postings now feature Google-generated hashtags that, when clicked, direct the user to related content from across their network. From a backend-infrastructure perspective, that sort of thing leans heavily on Google’s semantic analysis and the ability to make the right connections between various pieces of data. Google Plus will also automatically highlight certain photos out of dozens or even hundreds of shots. Say you went on vacation to India and took some photos of your significant other in front of the Taj Mahal; Google Plus will leverage its database of information to recognize that as a prominent landmark and pluck those photos out of the pile as ‘special.’ In the words of that posting on the Google+ Blog: ‘Your darkroom is now a Google data center.’ Are all these nifty, analytics-intensive features enough to change the larger fortunes of Google Plus? That’s the big question. Google has a handsome-looking platform, one that performs certain activities with a high degree of polish and zip—but is that enough to counter Facebook?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The 12 best animated Google doodles and hacks

Posted by Gsurface on May 15, 2013 No comments

For wasting your productivity, nothing beats a good Google Doodle or easter egg — especially the ones that make us smile and teach us at the same time. Here are 12 of our favorites, from video games to interactive melody makers and more.

How an Aussie University Creates the World’s Best Hackers

Posted by Gsurface on May 13, 2013 No comments

bennyboy64 writes “An Australian university appears to be excelling at cultivating some of Australia’s best computer hackers. Following the University of NSW’s students recently placing first, second and third in a hacking war game (the first place winners also won first place last year), The Sydney Morning Herald reports on what exactly about the NSW institution is breeding some of Australia’s best hackers. It finds that a lecturer and mentor to the students with controversial views on responsible disclosure appears to the be the reason for their success.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ask Engadget: best sub-$1000 Ultrabook?

Posted by Gsurface on May 12, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Meredith, who needs a new Ultrabook so she can go to Law School. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’m going to law school and I’ll need a new laptop. Since I’ll be commuting with a long train ride each way, I’m looking for a sub-$ 1000 device with Windows, a long battery life, SSD and it has to be lightweight. I don’t need anything too powerful as I’m not doing any gaming, but something that’ll work reliably for the next three years would be ideal for lecturers, web browsing and word processing. Is there a bargain to be had now, or should I wait for back-to-school Ultrabooks to come out? Thanks!”

In your humble narrator’s position, waiting a few months for a Haswell device, which promises significantly increased battery life might be a wise choice. However, if you’re not too fussed about a touchscreen device, then our laptop expert feels that Samsung’s Series 9 might be the way forward. Of course, this isn’t just a private enquiry, so let’s share this out with the wider community and see what they can come up with. It’s Ask Engadget, folks, you know the drill.

Filed under: Laptops

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The Audiophiliac picks the best speakers under $650

Posted by Gsurface on May 11, 2013 No comments

A top 10 list of rock-bottom priced, but still awesome sounding hi-fi, sound bar, subwoofer, and desktop models. [Read more]

CNET News

Ask Slashdot: What Is the Best Email Encryption Gateway For a Small Business?

Posted by Gsurface on May 10, 2013 No comments

Attila Dimedici writes “I am in the process of implementing an Email Encryption Gateway for my company. I checked with my various contacts in the industry and came away with Voltage as the best solution. However, as I have been working with them to implement a solution, I have been sadly disappointed by their lack of professionalism. Every time I think I am one question away from being ready to pull the trigger, I discover something that my contact with them had not mentioned before that has to be ironed out by the various stakeholders on my end. So, my question for Slashdot readers is this: what is your experience with implementing an Email Encryption Gateway for your company and what solution would you recommend?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slickdeals’ best in tech for May 8th: Samsung NX1000 mirrorless camera and Amazon Kindle Fire

Posted by Gsurface on May 8, 2013 No comments

Sure, tablets and cameras discounted on the regular in our twice weekly roundup, but today an A/V system sees the big price drop. A Denon AVR-1613 receiver and Harmon Kardon HKTS 16 speaker bundle is reduced by over 50% with the aid of a simple discount code. All of the particulars, and the rest of the list, await on the other side of the break.

Filed under: Cameras, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, Tablets

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Source: Slickdeals

Ask Engadget: best desktop PC speakers?

Posted by Gsurface on May 5, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from James, who wants to break into audio mixing, but needs some noisyboxes for his desk. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

I’m no audiophile, but I would like some decent quality sound for my desktop. I’ve tried 4.1, 2.1, 2.0 setups but none of them made me very happy, which isn’t helping my attempts to get into professional audio work. Is there a lower-end line of speakers that the pros use that I’d be able to afford?

Fortunately for you, James, we can turn this question over to our podcast producer, who suggested that you could do worse than a pair of KRK RP6G2 Rockit speakers, which come in at $ 400 for a pair. They’re studio monitors rather than purely desktop speakers, but if you want to start working in audio then you’re probably better off with these. Of course, it wouldn’t be Ask Engadget unless we turned this question over to our clever crew of commenters, so if you know of anything that’s better (or cheaper) then fire your answer into the comments below.

Filed under: Desktops, Portable Audio/Video

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Following Best Coding Practices Doesn’t Always Mean Better Security

Posted by Gsurface on May 3, 2013 No comments

wiredmikey writes “While some best practices such as software security training are effective in getting developers to write secure code, following best practices does not necessarily lead to better security, WhiteHat Security has found. Software security controls and best practices had some impact on the actual security of organizations, but not as much as one would expect, WhiteHat Security said in its Website Security Statistics Report. The report correlated vulnerability data from tens of thousands of Websites with the software development lifecycle (SDLC) activity data obtained via a survey. But there is good news — as organizations introduced best practices in secure software development, the average number of serious vulnerabilities found per Website declined dramatically over the past two years. ‘Organizations need to understand how different parts of the SDLC affects how vulnerabilities are introduced during software development,’ Jeremiah Grossman, co-founder and CTO of WhiteHat said. Interestingly, all the Websites tested under the study, 86 percent had at least one serious vulnerability exposed to attack every single day in 2012, and on average, resolving vulnerabilities took 193 days from the time an organization was first notified of the issue.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Want the best tech support? Buy a Mac, says Consumer Reports

Posted by Gsurface on April 30, 2013 No comments

Apple today again captured top honors in Consumer Reports‘ tech support ratings survey, besting other computer makers by a wide margin.
Computerworld News

Best Buy will sell its half of Best Buy Europe to Carphone Warehouse for $775 million

Posted by Gsurface on April 30, 2013 No comments

As Best Buy attempts a return to financial well-being, it’s decided to sell the 50 percent share it (still?) owns in Best Buy Europe to fellow joint venture partner Carphone Warehouse. The price is set at about 500 million GBP ($ 775 million) and is expected to close by June.

Developing…

Filed under: Cellphones, Household, Mobile

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Source: Best Buy

Ask Slashdot: Best OSS Embedded Development Platform

Posted by Gsurface on April 29, 2013 No comments

AchilleTalon writes “As many of you may know, there are two main competitors on the Windows platform for embedded software development, namely IAR and Keil. By embedded development, I mean development for microprocessors like the well known 8051 and the likes, not mobile platforms which include a complete OS in first place. I am seeking for alternatives to IAR and Keil in the OSS world. Even if I can find pieces of code here and there, I haven’t found yet a fully integrated development platform. Does it exist? What do you use?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ask Engadget: best WiFi router for super-fast Fiber?

Posted by Gsurface on April 28, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Travis from Provo, who is a jammy individual, wants to replace his router. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’m currently living in Provo UT, and my wireless router just died. I want to replace it with something that’s going to handle Google Fiber as that’s on its way. What do you recommend?”

Given the number of places that are now getting super-speed fiber, we’re very interested in the results of this one. We ask a similar question each year, and in 2012 you were all voicing your support for Cisco/Linksys hardware, ASUS’ RT-N66U and D-Link’s DIR-655. The only question is what’ll come out on top in 2013, so get commenting, friends.

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

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Soluto Brings Web-Based PC Management To Small Business, Ranks The Best Windows Laptops For SMBs (It’s A Mac)

Posted by Gsurface on April 25, 2013 No comments

Over the last few years, Israeli IT startup Soluto has morphed from simply being PC software that helps users run diagnostics on their hard drives, to a web-based platform that aims to turn you into a one-person Help Desk. In other words, Soluto now allows anyone to offer remote tech support and run diagnostics, whether that be for your mom’s computer or dozens of customers.
TechCrunch

Ask Engadget: best slow-motion camcorder for around $200?

Posted by Gsurface on April 21, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Philip, who wants to document his son’s baseball adventures. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

I’m looking for a HFR camcorder, as I like to record my son playing baseball and play it back in slow motion. The Kodak PlayFull looked like the solution, offering 120fps at 1,280 x 720 for $ 200, but then Kodak axed its camera businesses and it never made it to market. What other options, therefore, exist for 120fps video recording around a similar price bracket?

To be honest, slow-motion recording at such a low price is going to mean you’ll only be able to get pictures at dreadful resolutions. If you’re happy with footage at 640 x 480, then you could snag a Canon Powershot S100, but even that comes in at $ 319 from Amazon right now. It’s a shame your budget couldn’t stretch to $ 1,000, as we’re desperate to find out if JVC’s Procision is worth the hype. It’s at this point that we should probably turn this over to the Engadget community and get them to share their wisdom — so join in, HFR fans.

Filed under: Cameras

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Hooked Up: It’s the best of celebrity tech. Exposed.

Posted by Gsurface on April 19, 2013 No comments

The only show where the world of celebrity collides with the world of technology. [Read more]

CNET News

Best high-tech fishing gear

Posted by Gsurface on April 14, 2013 No comments

Heading out for a day of fishing? Be sure to pack this extra gear, which can make your excursion much more productive. There’s a solar charger for your trolling motor, a lightweight fishing jacket, and something that will provide some extra pop for shore-fishing day trips: a powerful ATV with two gear racks.

Belkin Ultimate Keyboard Case Gives Logitech A Competitor For The Best iPad Keyboard Crown

Posted by Gsurface on April 8, 2013 No comments

Keyboard cases for iPad are many and multiplying, but at this point it’s a question of refining the best concepts, not creating dramatically different devices. The Belkin Ultimate Keyboard Case for iPad is a great example, taking a lot of cues from the massively popular Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad and folio style designs to create a solution that might be as near as perfect as tablet typers can get.
TechCrunch

Ask Engadget: best Android PC on a stick?

Posted by Gsurface on April 7, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Chris, who wants to find a low-cost way of getting his wife online. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“My family’s already invested in Android, and my as wife isn’t the most computer literate, I thought an Android PC stick would get her online without any fuss. However, there are so many available, I thought I’d ask which one’s worth my time, if any? Thanks!”

Well, when it comes to Android sticks, you’re spoilt for choice. After all, you’ve got enterprise-level offerings like Project Ophelia through to the FAVI Streaming Stick, the GameStick, Always Innovating and, of course, the humble MK802. When it comes to which one you should buy? Let’s leave that up to the mood of the vox populi, who will be sharing their opinions below the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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SlashGear

iPad prices chopped at Best Buy

Posted by Gsurface on April 4, 2013 No comments

Walmart and MacMall are also offering price cuts on the iPad Mini and the larger iPad models. [Read more]

CNET News

Samsung To Open Retail Boutiques In 1,400 Best Buy Stores

Posted by Gsurface on April 4, 2013 No comments

Samsung has thrown down another gauntlet in its battle with Apple. This time, the Korean electronics giant is going head-to-head with Apple stores by opening retail boutiques, called ‘Samsung Experience Shops,’ in 1,400 Best Buy locations by the beginning of June. Stores will start operating in all of Best Buy’s big-box stores by May 1 and at smaller stores by June 1, around the same time as the Galaxy S4′s release date in the second quarter of this year. The new stores will join Samsung’s first prototype location in Lewisville, Texas. Samsung previously had no retail spaces of its own in the U.S. and its Best Buy stores are intended to help it grab customer eyeballs and dollars away from Apple and Microsoft’s own stores (Apple also has retail spaces in Best Buy). Each of Samsung’s boutiques will be about 460 square feet and offer Samsung smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and accessories. The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung’s spaces will be larger than Apple’s and allow customers to purchase Samsung items without having to go through the main checkout line. Samsung hopes having its own boutique spaces will boost its brand recognition among U.S. customers and allow staffers to show how its smartphones, tablets, laptops, and TVs can work together, potentially boosting sales of devices. In turn, Best Buy may be able to gain an edge on competitors like Amazon.com, Wal-Mart and Target by offering boutiques where customers can see demos and try out products. Sales at Best Buy stores open for at least 14 months fell 2.9 percent last year, its third straight annual decline.
TechCrunch

Samsung to launch Experience Shops in 1400 Best Buy stores

Posted by Gsurface on April 4, 2013 No comments

Samsung has teamed up with Best Buy to bring 1,400 in-store Experience Shops, according to a statement released Thursay. The stores will begin rolling out some time this month, with the Korean manufacturer stating that 900 Experience Shops will be up and running in select Best Buys by the beginning of May, with the rest

Slickdeals’ best in tech for April 3rd: Sony Alpha SLT-A57K kit and 39-inch Sharp AQUOS HDTV

Posted by Gsurface on April 3, 2013 No comments

Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we’ll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You’ll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won’t stick around long.

In another HD-heavy installment of our twice-weekly gadget deals, a 39-inch Sharp HDTV and Yamaha home theater receiver look to outfit those living rooms. Of course, a few other options hit the list too — like a Sony Alpha A57 digital SLR. The full 5-pack of picks is waiting on the other side of the jump, complete with purchase links and the required coupon codes.

Filed under: Cameras, Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video

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Source: Slickdeals

Ask Engadget: best Android e-mail client?

Posted by Gsurface on March 31, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Saad, who’s got wants some of that Mailbox goodness for himself. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I’ve seen wonderful applications like Mailbox and Sparrow on iOS, which do the job and aren’t too shabby in the looks department. Having used Sparrow on the iPad, I’ve been looking for an alternative that can be used on my Android phone. Any suggestions? Thanks!”

We can tell you’re not a fan of the Gmail app, so what about alternatives? Well, perhaps something like Aqua Mail, MailDroid or K-9 Mail could float your ocean-going vessel. If not those, then maybe it’s time to ask what the Engadget faithful use on their daily drivers, so have at it, friends.

Filed under: Software

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Ask Engadget: best Bluetooth headphones for audiophiles?

Posted by Gsurface on March 24, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Christopher, who wants to brave the world of Bluetooth cans for his daily rounds. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“Yeah, okay. ‘Audiophile’ and ‘Bluetooth’ don’t go together, but I’d really like a good pair of Bluetooth cans to use with my iPhone. Naturally, we’re talking about headphones / cans rather than earbuds, ideally with track control buttons, a microphone and noise canceling — but what I’m after is clean, beautifully reproduced audio above anything else. What can you suggest for less than £300 ($ 455)?”

Engadget’s resident audiophile is a Klipsch evangelist, so it’s probably best to start by talking about its Image One Bluetooth headset. It’s £199 / $ 249 and comes with A2DP and aptX for high-quality audio, and we’re fairly sure the company wouldn’t put its name to a headset unless it was sure it was half-decent. Still, if you’re sure you want to max out that headphone budget, then for £259 / $ 399, you can get Parrot’s Phillippe Stark-designed Zik cans, which come with noise cancellation, jawbone microphone and touch-sensitive controls. Then again, we can only offer you so many suggestions before we open this question up to the folks in the peanut gallery — so what do you peeps down there think?

Filed under: Portable Audio/Video

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7 best smartphones today

Posted by Gsurface on March 23, 2013 No comments

If you’re ready to drop some money on one of the latest and greatest smartphones, you have some great choices — almost too many, in fact.

Best Google reader replacement

Posted by Gsurface on March 19, 2013 No comments

News junkies were devastated last week when Google announced that it would eliminate Google Reader, which displays RSS feeds from websites in a simple list format.
FOX News

BB10 is ready to ship, BlackBerry’s marketing department does its best Etta James parody (video)

Posted by Gsurface on March 19, 2013 No comments

Their phones are fine and dandy, but we liked the band before it sold out.

Filed under: Blackberry

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Via: AllThingsD

Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Block Web Content?

Posted by Gsurface on March 17, 2013 No comments

First time accepted submitter willoughby writes “Many routers today have the capability to block web content. And you all know about browser addons like noscript & adblock. But where is the ‘proper’ place for such content blocking? Is it best to have the router only route packets & do the content blocking on each machine? If using the content blocking feature in the router, will performance degrade if the list of blocked content grows large? Where is the best place to filter/block web content?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

The next Einstein? America’s best and brightest minds

Posted by Gsurface on March 17, 2013 No comments

From curing blindness to building safer bridges to specialized 3-D that can save lives, American innovators are taking on science’s biggest challenges.

Ask Slashdot: Best 3-D Design Software?

Posted by Gsurface on March 16, 2013 No comments

An anonymous reader writes “I’m just getting into playing around with various maker-related tools, and I’ve run into a bit of a roadblock. I have access to a 3-D printer, a CNC mill, and a bunch of other fun tools, but I’m not able to make my own designs to use on them. I’d like to learn some 3-D design, but there are a ton of different software options, and I’m not sure which is the best. I’ve been hesitant to jump right into one, because I don’t know how well it’ll suit my needs compared to the others, and many of the options have a pretty steep price tag. I also don’t want to spend a bunch of time learning one only to find out it’s not very good for actually making things. I’ve played around briefly with Solidworks, Alibre, and AutoCAD, and also some free options like Blender and Sketchup. But these are complicated piece of software, and knowing nothing, it’s hard for me to evaluate the differences. Makers of Slashdot, what do you recommend? Also, if you know of good online resources for learning 3-D design in general, or on any of this software in particular, I’d love to see it.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Ask Slashdot: Best Way To Block Noise In a Dorm?

Posted by Gsurface on March 15, 2013 No comments

First time accepted submitter zmitch32 writes “I live in a dorm, and I have ADHD, so every little noise distracts me. I know this annoyance isn’t limited to those with ADHD, so how does everyone else block out the noise? I can’t really cover my walls in soundproof foam because I live in a dorm. I can’t just listen to music because I find it too interesting and just end up getting distracted by it. I use ear plugs to block out small noises, but they don’t block out human voices very well at all. What do you guys/gals recommend?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New on MIT Technology Review

Xi3′s David Politis Says Piston Will Combine The Best Features Of PCs And Consoles

Posted by Gsurface on March 14, 2013 No comments

Xi3 recently opened preorders for Piston, the company’s gaming-optimized personal computer. I actually had a chance to speak to the company’s chief marketing officer David Politis over the weekend at South by Southwest Interactive, where he described the device as a combination of the best aspects of PCs and gaming consoles.

TechCrunch

Why Environmentalists Oppose One of the Best Ways to Cut Carbon Emissions

Posted by Gsurface on March 8, 2013 No comments

Humans may be wired to respond more to immediate issues like fracking than longer term ones like global warming.

An interesting post at The Breakthough Institute website makes a case that environmentalists should rethink their opposition to fracking.

Ask Slashdot: How Best To Set Up a Parent’s PC?

Posted by Gsurface on March 5, 2013 No comments

CodingHero writes “My mother uses a recent enough PC running Windows XP and has a broadband connection, but her primary method of interacting with the online world remains the AOL software. She also likes to download and use various seasonal wallpapers, screensavers, etc. Usually all this works fine and I don’t get family tech support calls, but occasionally something big goes wrong. Since she lives 400 miles away, that means I get to provide phone tech support. While I can usually get something fixed through simple instructions, sometimes it’s just too complicated to properly diagnose and explain over the phone (e.g., a trojan infection that anti-virus won’t get rid of on its own). I’d like to set up the system so that her account is not an Administrator and that I can easily (and securely) remotely connect to fix problems, install stuff she really wants to use (after proper vetting of course), and so on. Moving to Linux or a Mac is not an option. Upgrading the system to Windows 7 and breaking the AOL habit, while seemingly the best course of action, is going to mean a lot of my time up front to explain how to do things all over again, time that I don’t have a lot of right now. Has anyone else had a similar experience? If so, what did you find was the best way to re-educate a parent and/or set up a method to securely and remotely manage a system, or at least lock it down to better protect it?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

UC Davis Study Concludes H-1B Workers Neither Best Nor Brightest

Posted by Gsurface on March 5, 2013 No comments

CowboyRobot writes “American companies are demanding more H-1B visas to ensure access to the best and brightest workforce, and outside the U.S. are similar claims of an IT worker shortage. Last month, European Commission VP Neelie Kroes bemoaned the growing digital skills gap that threatens European competitiveness. But a new study finds that imported IT talent is often less talented than U.S. workers. Critics of the H-1B program see it as a way for companies to keep IT wages low, to discriminate against experienced U.S. workers, and to avoid labor law obligations. In his examination of the presumed correlation between talent and salary, researcher Norman Matloff observes that Microsoft has been exaggerating how much it pays foreign workers. Citing past claims by the company that it pays foreign workers ‘$ 100,000 a year to start,’ Matloff says the data shows that only 18% of workers with software engineering titles sponsored for green cards by Microsoft between 2006 and 2011 had salaries at or above $ 100,000.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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SlashGear

The world is better off with Best Buy alive than dead

Posted by Gsurface on March 3, 2013 No comments

commentary Best Buy talks a lot about survival these days. It would be the last big box specialty electronics retailer to go. [Read more]

CNET News

Intel’s best shot at tablets hasn’t arrived yet

Posted by Gsurface on March 2, 2013 No comments

With its Bay Trail processor, Intel may give ARM chip rivals something to worry about. But Bay Trail won’t arrive in products until late this year at the earliest. [Read more]

CNET News

Best reports Q4 2013 earnings, founder drops plans for private buyout

Posted by Gsurface on March 1, 2013 No comments

Best Buy announced its Q4 2013 (fiscal year) earnings today, and it’s not looking incredibly good. The company reported a net loss of $ 377 million with a revenue of $ 16.7 billion during the quarter. Compared to a year ago, Best Buy brought in a revenue of $ 16.67 billion with a net loss of $ 405 million,

Ubuntu Touch beats Firefox OS to win best of MWC from CNET

Posted by Gsurface on February 28, 2013 No comments

Our team judges Canonical’s new mobile OS to be the most exciting thing at Mobile World Congress, with Mozilla’s software as runner-up. [Read more]

CNET News

Bada to be retired, will see its best features absorbed by Tizen

Posted by Gsurface on February 25, 2013 No comments

It’s been over a year since rumors and statements suggested Samsung’s Bada OS was due to be terminated, but that some form of it would live on within the open-source Tizen OS. Now, Samsung exec Won-Pyo Hong has confirmed as such with Korean news agency Yonhap. Rather than a complete fusion of the two, Tizen will select only the best qualities of the featurephone-friendly Bada for assimilation. Samsung’s Tizen 2.0-based handsets arriving in 2013 will put the final nail in Bada’s coffin, but out of respect for its fallen comrade, Tizen will obligingly run apps designed for the retired OS. Like some kind of mobile software Highlander, Tizen is now drawing power from several perished peers, and has even set its sights on the mighty Android. There can be only one.

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Samsung

Comments

Via: The Verge

Source: Yonhap

Ask Engadget: best / most ‘open’ e-book store?

Posted by Gsurface on February 24, 2013 No comments

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget inquiry is from Arthur, who’s considering giving this new-fangled electronic book thing a go. If you’re looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“During a recent move, I dumped a dozen boxes of books at goodwill, and have decided to give e-books a try. But what’s the most “open” way to buy them? Me and my wife want to share titles (reasonable enough, given that we wouldn’t buy two copies from a bookstore). As such, we’d like to open an account somewhere that will let us read on our various computers, PlayBook, iPad and Nook. Is there a store that you can suggest?”

Given your humble narrator’s long-held resistance to e-books (and devotion to building a library of their own), this is one we’re going to pass straight over to the Engadget community. So, dear friends, what’s your opinion?

Comments