Electronista | Gadgets for Geeks

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01/27/12--09:15: Woot offers refurbished 32GB HP TouchPad for $220 (chan 1035411)

Despite being discontinued, HP's TouchPad tablet is up for sale again, at Woot. It's a refurbished 32GB model, priced at $220, or about $70 more than the last refurbished 32GB TouchPads sold on eBay. Shipping is a much more manageable $5 for the new sale, however....




01/27/12--09:35: Former Apple exec Jon Rubinstein leaves HP (chan 1035411)

HP has confirmed that former Palm CEO and one-time Apple executive Jon Rubinstein was leaving the company. Representative Mylene Mangalindan explained to AllThingsD that Rubinstein had "fulfilled his commitment" to stay for one to two years after HP's acquisition of Palm. He wasn't leaving for another company and isn't believed to have some other specific goal....




01/27/12--09:50: Nintendo rumored mulling a Wii U name change (chan 1035411)

Nintendo is reportedly considering changing the name of its upcoming game console, the Wii U. The reason for this internal mulling, CVG heard, is supposedly due to the confusion with the 3D and 3DS, which Nintendo found to be too similar in the public eye. It supposedly fears the same would happen with the Wii U and its existing Wii....




01/27/12--10:05: Windows Phone now handles multiple Google Sync calendars (chan 1035411)

Google has just added support for syncing multiple Google accounts on Windows Phone 7.5 and up. Up to 25 different calendars can be synced from the mobile sync page. Through these calendars, users can create events and edit their details, respond to meeting requests and update attendee status and create reminders ahead of the event....




01/27/12--10:10: Jobs kept letter from Bill Gates by bedside, report reveals (chan 1035411)

Former Microsoft head Bill Gates wrote Apple CEO Steve Jobs a letter shortly before the latter's death, according to a report from UK newspaper The Telegraph. "I told Steve about how he should feel great about what he had done and the company he had built. I wrote about his kids, whom I had got to know," says Gates....




01/27/12--10:45: Rubinstein: I was out of HP regardless of TouchPad results (chan 1035411)

HP's newly departed Jon Rubinstein has explained his reasons for going in an interview Friday. He clarified to The Verge that he had planned to leave not long after HP bought Palm and agreed to stay one to two years, both to help transition webOS to HP and out of affinity with Personal Systems Group head Todd Bradley. Whether or not the TouchPad succeeded was incidental, as Rubinstein had already decided beforehand that he wouldn't stay permanently....




01/27/12--11:00: Koush teases touch-aware ClockworkMod Recovery (chan 1035411)

CyanogenMod team member Koushik "Koush" Dutta has just shared a video teaser (below) of his latest project, a touch-native version of ClockworkMod Recovery. The early build shows touch to select and scrolling working, and treats the menu as buttons. The software will let users create full firmware backups to ensure they can go back to a stock phone if their hacked operating system isn't what they expected....




01/27/12--11:30: Nikon D800 expected February 6, new Coolpix on February 1 (chan 1035411)

Nikon's long-expected D800 full-frame DSLR may have a firmer ship date from a collation of tips. The pro camera is now believed with confidence by Nikon Rumors to be unveiled on February 6, with numerous events scheduled on February 7. The timing would be a deliberate prelude to the CP+ camera show starting February 9 in Japan....




01/27/12--11:35: Sigma founder Michihiro Yamaki dies (chan 1035411)

CEO of camera and lens maker Sigma, sadly, has passed away. The 78-year-old Michihiro Yamaki succumbed in Tokyo, Japan on January 18 after a fight with liver cancer. Yamaki founded the company in 1961 and was heading up the company up to 2011, on its 50th anniversary....




01/27/12--12:05: Facebook may get stock IPO with up to $100 billion worth (chan 1035411)

Facebook's long-rumored initial public offering (IPO) of stock could be filed as soon as Wednesday if a new leak proves real. The share plans seen by the Wall Street Journal would most likely be underwritten by Morgan Stanley with help from Goldman Sachs. At $75 billion to $100 billion of expected value, it would be one of the most valuable IPOs to date....




01/27/12--12:10: Samsung Galaxy S II spinoff may go to China (chan 1035411)

A unique variant of the Samsung Galaxy S II has now shown up undergoing FCC testing. The device, only known so far as the GT-i9070, will have GSM/EDGE 850MHz and 1,900MHz support, along with WCDMA 3G bands II and IV used in the US. It's believed focused on China....




01/27/12--12:40: OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express ups MacBook Air to 480GB drive (chan 1035411)

Other World Computing has answered one of the more common calls among MacBook Air owners and has put out a 480GB version of its Mercury Aura Pro Express. The new solid-state drive doubles the storage of its SATA3-based, 6Gbps model line. As with other SSDs, more capacity doesn't mean a sacrifice in speed, and it can deliver as much as 500MB per second in peak transfer speeds....




01/27/12--12:50: Sony rolls Launch Day PS Vita with free month of 3G (chan 1035411)

Sony has hoped to lure gamers to the PlayStation Vita with another bundle for the official February 22 US arrival. The Launch Day bundle mates the 3G version of the console with a free month's pass for 250MB of AT&T data. While most of the accessories aren't present from the First Edition bundle, gamers get a twice-as-large 8GB memory card to encourage more game and add-on downloads....




01/27/12--13:05: Czech Republic to play home to Euro GPS rival (chan 1035411)

The European Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Agency has struck a deal with the Czech government to have Prague serve as the headquarters for Galileo, the European rival to the US' Global Positioning System (GPS). The European network of 30 satellites orbiting the globe is expected to start operation in 2014. The Europeans claim that Galileo is more accurate and reliable than GPS, which began full operation in 1993....




01/27/12--13:20: Briefly: Instant PDF 10 launched, reVOLT c2 now shipping (chan 1035411)

Enfocus has released Instant PDF 10, an update to its PDF creation tool. Version 10 includes one of the most frequently requested features, annotated error reporting, as well as support for OS X Lion and Adobe CS 5.5. In addition, the update uses Enfocus PitStop Library 10, which provides users with the same level of error identification and correction as the highest-end Enfocus application suites. A fully-functional trial version can be downloaded online, while single user licenses start at $300....




01/27/12--13:25: T-Mobile to give extra help to unlocked iPhones (chan 1035411)

A leaked memo shared online by TmoNews reveals T-Mobile will change its attitude toward its subscribers who use unlocked iPhones on their network. When the iPhone owners call in, T-Mobile staffers are being instructed to handle common procedures. These include information about features and specifications and other basic device questions....




01/27/12--13:25: RIM CEO: we're looking into BBM on other platforms (chan 1035411)

RIM's new CEO Thorsten Heins has continued his interviewing with hints the company might not be as closed to the possibility of BlackBerry Messenger on other mobile platforms as once thought. He told CrackBerry that he was still committed to the core BlackBerry platform and there weren't immediate plans, but that the company "should never rule this [possibility] out." The company did have staff exploring the possibility, but it would only go ahead if it was logical....




01/27/12--13:40: LG to bring 3D Max smartphone to MWC: report (chan 1035411)

The recently leaked CX2 handset from LG will be coming to the MWC show in Barcelona next month carrying the 3D Max name, the outlet GSM-Israeli reported. Whatever its final name, the phone would replace the Optimus 3D and sport a glasses-free 3D display. The name could also be Optimus 3D Max, though this might not apply to some regional versions....




01/27/12--14:10: Amazon Kindle Fire cuts Galaxy Tab Android use share in half (chan 1035411)

Amazon's Kindle Fire is squeezing out other Android tablets for actual use online. New Flurry data shows that the Kindle Fire virtually cut the Samsung Galaxy Tab line's usage share in half, from 63 percent in November to 36 percent in January. Other devices saw a similar squeeze, which mostly came from the Kindle Fire's rampant sales rather than a drop in Android use....




01/27/12--14:10: EU clears Sony's acquisition of Ericsson's mobile stake (chan 1035411)

The European Union has approved Sonyís acquisition of Ericssonís stake in their smartphone enterprise. The approval was granted on January 26 and gives the company the green light to forge ahead with its Sony-only smartphone branding, design and development. Sony announced it was moving to buyout Ericssonís holdings in late October at a cost of $1.4 billion....




01/27/12--14:20: French regulator to look into Free's cheap phone service (chan 1035411)

ARCEP, the French telecom regulator, has said it is going to inspect low-cost wireless provider Iliad's backbone network to make sure it is compliant with its bandwidth licensing requirements. The action takes place after Iliad's competitors raised complaints about Iliad's network performance and customer service. Iliad, which operates its wireless service under the Free name brand, denied the claims, discounting them as false rumors....




01/27/12--14:50: First official US CTO Aneesh Chopra resigns (chan 1035411)

Aneesh Chopra, the nation's first Chief Technical Officer, has tendered his resignation. Although no official reason was given, it's unofficially considered most likely he is stepping down so he can follow his own political ambitions. Chopra has been in the CTO position since May 2009....




01/27/12--14:50: USPTO invalidates key Rambus patent, may lower tech costs (chan 1035411)

Rambus' litigation campaign suffered a possibly fatal setback Friday after the USPTO pushed word that it had invalidated the final patent out of three the company has been using to sue a large part of the technology industry. Having quietly made the decision on Tuesday, the patent office's appeals board left Rambus without any of the patents it has been using to sue NVIDIA, Hynix, HP, and others. The first two had been scrapped in September....




01/27/12--14:50: Rumor backs 2GHz Galaxy Tab with high-res display due at MWC (chan 1035411)

A fresh rumor backs a Samsung Galaxy Tab running at 2GHz to be unveiled at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Android and Me claim to have unknowingly played with the device at a special media-only closed door Samsung seminar at CES. It is said to sport Samsungís latest dual-core Exynos 5250 processor that is built on ARMís latest Cortex-A15 architecture, which incorporates its next-gen Mali-T406 GPU....




01/27/12--15:35: ZTE V66 Android tablet with 4G gets spotted (chan 1035411)

Last month, the ZTE V66 popped up at the FCC awaiting approval for its 4G LTE wireless. Now, thanks to the Bluetooth SIG filing, onlookers have a better view of the seven-inch tablet. The device is expected to show up on Verizon's shelves in the not to distant future....




01/27/12--15:45: Hands on: Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo drives (chan 1035411)

Just weeks after announcing its first Thunderbolt hard drives, Western Digital appropriately brought the offerings to show off at the Macworld iWorld expo in San Francisco. Electronista took a close look at several of the company's My Book Thunderbolt Duo drives, which were daisy chained to a Thunderbolt display....




01/27/12--15:55: Jobs caught Google recruiting Apple engineer, letter alleges (chan 1035411)

An unredacted letter from Steve Jobs to Google head Eric Schmidt in March of 2007 reveals that Google was attempting to recruit an Apple engineer, which resulted in swift repercussions after Schmidt was notified. The letter is part of a court case that alleges that informal "no poaching" agreements between Apple, Google and five other tech companies amounted to a conspiracy to limit opportunities and keep compensation low....




01/27/12--16:20: iPad marks 2nd birthday with new rivals, quiet naysayers (chan 1035411)

Friday signaled the second anniversary of the iPad's introduction and what has since been interpreted as the start of a shift in the entire computing space. Apple's tablet was unveiled this day in 2010 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco by its late co-creator, Steve Jobs. It would only go on sale April 2, but it proved to be polarizing from its unveiling, even for Apple loyalists....




01/27/12--16:30: Samsung Galaxy S III may have appeared in support pages (chan 1035411)

Samsung continues to send out conflicting signals about when its future flagship phone, the Galaxy S III might be released. Earlier today, Samsung's Senior marketing VP, Younghee Lee, said that the company was "still reviewing" options. At the same time, a probable reference to the phone has since shown up on Samsung's UAE support page as the GT-i9300....




01/27/12--17:50: Israel plans fiber-based national broadband network (chan 1035411)

Israel has followed Australian footsteps in planning its own national broadband network. The country's Israel Electric Corporation plans a purely fiber-based network that will supply many of the country's homes with at least 100Mbps speeds. They picked fiber with the intention to scale and could theoretically hit 1Gbps in time....




01/27/12--19:45: Hands on: LandingZone dock for MacBook Air (chan 1035411)

Several successful Kickstarter projects are currently on hand at the Macworld iWorld expo for potential customers to try out, including LandingZone's docking station for the MacBook Air. Electronista initially wrote about the device before it had gathered enough funding to pass through the Kickstarter program, so we were excited to get a chance to see it in person....




01/27/12--21:30: Hands on: Schneider iPro 2x lens for the iPhone 4 (chan 1035411)

Schneider Optics was one of many companies at the Macworld iWorld expo showing off its latest accessories. Electronista stopped by the lens maker's booth to check out their latest addition to the iPro interchangeable lens system for the iPhone 4 and 4S. A 2X telephoto lens now complements the company's wide angle and fisheye lenses....




01/27/12--22:30: RIM: only 20% use modern BlackBerrys, LTE PlayBook in spring (chan 1035411)

RIM's new leader Thorsten Heins in further interviews has outlined how he plans to take on competition in the short term. He revealed to Reuters that just 20 percent of BlackBerry owners are using a modern version of the OS, in some cases using BlackBerry 5 or even older. Much of the company's focus would be on getting them to upgrade to new phones, including special carrier deals that could bundle devices together or give carriers phones with bundled apps....




01/27/12--23:10: Over-eager YouTube filter outlined as Megaupload denied look (chan 1035411)

YouTube's anti-piracy screening has both come under fire and gotten some relief on Friday. The system is now known from an anecdote at Vice to generate false positives if enough of a song is improperly attributed to the wrong group. When Universal-backed group Yelawolf took a sample from an After the Smoke track and had its adaptation leaked, the Universal takedown claim not only brought down the Yelawolf leak but the original track the sample came from....




01/28/12--10:30: Firefox 12 to get revamped portal page, autocomplete (chan 1035411)

Versions of the upcoming Firefox 12 in the nightly build phase have shown major changes coming to its interface. New tabs can now open to a hybrid portal page that mixes in features seen in Chrome and Safari. Along with seeing the most frequently visited sites and a search bar, it now has top web apps, the most recently shared apps, and a Google Talk status section to launch directly into chat....




01/28/12--10:55: Lenovo IdeaPad Y470p pushes gaming with Radeon HD 7690M (chan 1035411)

Lenovo has stepped up its gaming credentials by quietly taking orders for the IdeaPad Y470p. The 14-inch notebook swaps out NVIDIA's low-end GeForce GT 520M video of the regular Y470 for a mid-range AMD Radeon HD 7690M, giving it an edge in 3D games. The 2.2GHz quad Core i7 and 8GB of RAM help keep the system running at full pace....




01/28/12--11:40: 9nm IBM nanotube transistors may outrace silicon (chan 1035411)

IBM researchers have published results for a new nine-nanometer nanotube transistor that could redefine processors in the future. The carbon-based element is the first below 10 nanometers and is much more efficient than the best current silicon-based transistors. Because of the size and material, it can use considerably less power and takes on more of a current to improve the reliability....




01/28/12--12:05: Samsung Epic 2 may resurface for Boost or Virgin (chan 1035411)

Samsung's seemingly abandoned Epic 2 for Sprint might still see the light of day after leaks saw it resurface. The Android QWERTY slider is now in Cellebrite's device tracking system, ACSyndicate found, usually a sign that it's getting close to release. The SPH prefix in front of its D705 model number suggests that it's intended for a Sprint-related carrier, which given Sprint's own absence could mean Boost Mobile or Virgin Mobile instead....




01/28/12--13:55: NVIDIA accused of astroturfing against AMD Radeon in forums (chan 1035411)

NVIDIA was accused this week of using dishonest marketing to try to skew gamers towards its next-generation Kepler graphics hardware. Posters in the ChipHell forums claiming to have details of the new graphics core were reportedly discovered to be NVIDIA marketers. They made bold claims about Kepler's prices and performance in what appeared to be an attempt to downplay AMD's Radeon HD 7900 line....




01/28/12--16:20: MicroOLED viewfinder may lead to 'perfect' camera previews (chan 1035411)

MicroOLED has developed a new electronic viewfinder that could address some of the standout complaints about not going optical. The OLED panel has five million square dots and can show a 1280x1024 image in its just over 0.6-inch view. Its resolution is higher than the 1024x768 of today's best EVFs and has no gap between pixels, leading to a seamless effect....




01/28/12--16:25: Review: Logitech Cube (chan 1035411)

The world of mice could often be described charitably as stagnant: it's an endless sea of ergonomic shapes that assume you're sitting at a desk and have lots of room in your bag. Logitech's Cube is about as different as you can get, with a small, brick-like design that relies on touch and orientation to make it an ultraportable mouse and presenter. We'll gauge in our Logitech Cube review whether it's a welcome break or a novelty....




01/28/12--23:00: Wisconsin schools to get iPads from Microsoft settlement (chan 1035411)

School districts in Madison, Wisconsin will be getting a total of 1,400 iPads this year, all of them paid for by Microsoft, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. The state will use a portion of the nearly $80 million it will receive from the tech giant to buy 600 iPads this spring and 800 more in the fall. The money comes from a decade-old settlement of a lawsuit Wisconsin and 18 other states filed, alleging Microsoft routinely overcharged for software....




01/29/12--02:15: BSR says NYT look into Apple-Foxconn pact has inaccuracies (chan 1035411)

Corporate responsibility consultant firm BSR has published an open letter partly correcting the New York Times on its investigation of Foxconn factories. CEO Aron Cramer didn't object to the core of the article, which highlighted the problems Apple and others would have in improving supply chain work conditions, but did object to how it portrayed BSR. A BSR consultant was quoted several times but wasn't representing the whole company when he did, Cramer said....




01/29/12--02:30: Google takes signups for Galaxy Nexus on Sprint (chan 1035411)

Google has posted a signup page for the Sprint version of the Galaxy Nexus. Potential early adopters can get information about when the Android 4.0 phone hits the carrier and also might get news of "Nexus products, services, and features." Those who put in a ZIP code can get locations for shops when orders start....




01/29/12--10:55: Dutch shop claims Nokia Lumia 910 with 12MP cam, 21Mbps 3G (chan 1035411)

Talk of a Nokia Lumia 910 with upgraded hardware may have gained support after Dutch retailer Typhone put up a listing for the device. Its definition would mostly match that of rumors, giving it a 12-megapixel camera while keeping the 4.3-inch screen, 1.4GHz Snapdragon, and front camera of the Lumia 900. Instead of AT&T's LTE-based 4G, the Windows Phone would upgrade slightly from the 800 with 21Mbps HSPA+ 3G....




01/29/12--15:40: Lazaridis says RIM groomed Heins for CEO (chan 1035411)

RIM's departing co-chief Mike Lazaridis chose an unofficial exit interview this weekend to uncover the amount of preparation for new CEO Thorsten Heins. He explained to The Record that they had started succession plans years ago and that Heins had been kepd in mind. He was a "star" already, but he had to prove his worth and take on more roles before he could take on the position....




01/29/12--16:05: Judge decision could see Android violate key Apple patent (chan 1035411)

An examination of a decision in a Chicago court in Apple's lawsuit versus Motorola could see most any Android device face inherent patent violations. Florian Mueller has noticed that Judge Richard Posner interpreted a realtime API (app programming interface in such a way that Motorola and other Android supporters not only would be infringing on the technology, but wouldn't have an easy way around it. HTC had already been found violating the patent and could now see that definition enshrined in the courts....




01/29/12--16:55: Nokia says big Lumia 800 update still leaves issues to fix (chan 1035411)

Nokia has acknowledged that the second large Lumia 800 update itself doesn't touch on every issue. The focus was on the most common battery issues with under-reported battery capacities and not audio and camera quality issues that others were having. Those were coming in a subsequent fix, Nokia said, although it wouldn't say when these were coming....




01/29/12--17:35: Apple's Siri gets multiple plugs on Big Bang Theory (chan 1035411)

Apple got more than a few endorsements this week after The Big Bang Theory made Siri a core part of an episode's plot line. Raj gets an iPhone 4S and quickly falls in love with it, since it appears to respond to every romantic question he has. It agrees to call him "sexy" and suggests places to that he imagines being places for a date....




01/29/12--18:05: NEC cuts 10,000 jobs after swing to $1.3b loss (chan 1035411)

NEC late this past week said it would drop 10,000 jobs in a bid to turn around a souring business. The drops, which would equate to about 8.6 percent of its entire workforce, were meant to mitigate the sudden estimate that it would lose about 100 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in the fiscal year that ends with March. It had previously predicted that it would make a profit of 15 billion yen ($195.4 million), a reversal from losses over all but one of the past four years....