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• Redesigned Droid Bionic wants to fight you, shows up in leaked Best Buy ad July 6, 2011 @ 2:16 pm
  Motorola has sure been taking its sweet time with the Droid Bionic. But hey — better late than busted, right? We got some hands-on time with the LTE handset way back in January, only to get word in April that the device was going back into hiding while the company made "several enhancements." Rumors about said improvements have popped up in the me […]
• Spotify is coming to the US, invites are open now July 6, 2011 @ 12:26 pm
  It's happening. The music streaming service that has won over the collective heart of Europe is finally making the puddle jump that we've been waiting for. Spotify just threw up a US landing spot, inviting eager Americans to jump in line for a table at the party. Meanwhile, we just received confirmation on our own end that things are finalizing for […]
• Google, MapQuest, Microsoft and Aol sued for allegedly infringing 3D mapping patent July 6, 2011 @ 5:51 am
  The saga continues for Google's voyeuristic mapping service, but this time Microsoft Streetside and Aol's MapQuest 360 View may be the Bonnie to Street View's Clyde. Transcenic, Inc. is suing the tech giants for acquiring the tools necessary to offer 3D mapping by less-than-legitimate means. The Louisiana-based company alleges that all named p […]
• Google+ to require that profiles be visible to all, will boot private profiles after July 31st July 6, 2011 @ 4:36 am
  Don't want anyone searching for you on Google+? No problem! Just leave your profile marked as private and Google will punt your page from the cloud after July 31st. If you still want your profile around come August, you'll need to mark it as public before that deadline. You can still keep most of your personal details under lock and key, limiting a […]
• The XFX WarPad hopes you never see the top of your desk again (video) July 6, 2011 @ 2:12 am
  Sick and tired of your pathetic little mousepad? Why not check out the WarPad? It's a massive 16.97 by 13.98 inch surface designed to rid your gaming marathons of mousing friction and the vague discomfort that comes with having the palm of your hand rest on the edge of the pad. The WarPad accomplishes the latter by clipping to the edge of your desk and […]
• AnandTech Mobile Graphics Guide, Summer 2011 July 5, 2011 @ 11:07 pm
  If desktop graphics hardware can be more than a little confusing, deciphering performance of mobile graphics parts can be (and has historically been) an absolute nightmare. Way back in the day it was at least fairly easy to figure out which desktop chip was hiding in which mobile kit, but both AMD and NVIDIA largely severed ties between mobile and desktop br […]
• Qualcomm Snapdragon roadmap leaks, Krait slithering on the scene soon July 5, 2011 @ 6:08 pm
  We've gotten a few peeks at Qualcomm's next-gen Snapdragon chips, codenamed Krait, but now we've got a proper roadmap, including time frames for release, model numbers, and even details about the memory channels. Glancing at the slide above doesn't reveal anything terribly surprising — the dual-core 8960 (LTE), 8270 (HSPA), and 8260A (HS […]
• Microsoft and Wistron come to terms in royalty agreement, Android and Chrome OS now targeted July 5, 2011 @ 3:56 pm
  We're seeing a heavy surge in Microsoft's relentless pursuit of licensing deals in light of recent patent-infringement claims. Wistron Corp, a spinoff of Acer, is the latest company to make an agreement with Microsoft in a string of lawsuits and royalty clashes that's spanned the course of two months. While we've seen Android suppliers su […]
• PS4 production to begin later this year? July 5, 2011 @ 1:02 pm
  We're still waiting on that globe-like PS9 (aren't you?), but seeing as how wireless head-to-console gaming isn't yet available or ethical, we'll make do with PS4 rumors. Based on nothing more than a game of component-maker telephone, sources out of Taiwan are telling Digitimes to expect a brand new PlayStation 4 for launch sometime in ea […]
• Cellphones are dangerous / not dangerous: cancer experts say 'What, me worry?' July 4, 2011 @ 6:19 am
  If you haven't already gotten whiplash from the ongoing cellphone-cancer debate, a freshly released scientific review might just do the trick. In the paper, published Friday, a panel of experts from Britain, Sweden and the US conducted a thorough survey of previous studies, before concluding that existing literature is "increasingly against" t […]
• Caffenol turns Folgers into DIY film developer — decaf won't do (video) July 4, 2011 @ 4:44 am
  We knew instant coffee was good for something. The folks at Make just demoed a rather novel method for developing negatives from a roll of black and white film — you remember film, don't you? Known as Caffenol, the process involves a smattering of household substances, including Vitamin C powder, instant coffee (caffeinated only), good ole H2O, and Cas […]
• Samsung's Galaxy S II becomes company's quickest selling phone: three million in 55 days July 3, 2011 @ 1:04 pm
  Samsung sold three million of its original Galaxy S phone in 85 days. A few months later, a full ten million had been moved. Now, it looks as if the superphone's proper successor may put that latter statistic to shame. The outfit just announced that it took but 55 days to move three million Galaxy S II handsets, which works out to one phone every 1.5 se […]
• Facebook to launch in-browser video chat powered by Skype? July 2, 2011 @ 5:02 pm
  Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype hasn't closed yet, but it looks like Redmond is already working behind the scenes to make the service even more ubiquitous. According to an anonymous source interviewed by TechCrunch, Facebook is going to introduce video chat next week, and that service will be powered by none other than Skype. And whil […]
• Samsung drops Apple countersuit — Apple's still got a bone to pick July 2, 2011 @ 1:56 pm
  Back in April, Samsung slapped back at Apple's claims of patent infringement with a healthy helping of ten claims of its own. Now Bloomberg is reporting that Samsung quietly dropped its countersuit against the Cupertino-based company on June 30th, in an attempt "to streamline the legal proceedings." Of course that doesn't mean the saga is […]
• Apple seeks preliminary injunction on Infuse 4G, Galaxy S 4G, Droid Charge, and Galaxy Tab 10.1 July 2, 2011 @ 10:04 am
  Drama. Rather than leaving well enough alone — at least long enough for its lawyers to properly enjoy the Independence Day weekend — Apple has seemingly kicked its ongoing legal battle with Samsung up a notch. According to a filing discovered by FOSS Patents, the perturbed in Cupertino have filed a motion for a preliminary injunction with the US District C […]
• Modder outfits Nexus One with an Arduino-powered, pager-style display — of course July 2, 2011 @ 6:32 am
  Not satisfied with a Sony Ericsson LiveView as a secondary display for your Android phone, or a dual-screen device like the Kyocera Echo? Then you might want to consider something like this decidedly more homebrew approach from modder "follower," which uses the Android Open Accessory protocol to connect the Frankenpager-type contraption you see abo […]
• Verizon 4G LTE Unlimited Data Customers Will Have Separate $30 Unlimited Tethering Plan – Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog July 1, 2011 @ 11:37 pm
  All about Android and the DROID lineup of phones, Rooting, Apps, Reviews and Videos. […]
• Skype 2 video chat unofficially enabled on the Galaxy S II, Sensation, and others July 1, 2011 @ 7:05 am
  The latest Skype update for Android is available to everyone, but it only enables video chat on four specific handsets. Fortunately, impatient modders have gone some way to correcting this profound injustice, by creating APKs that activate video calling on other handsets too. So far we've heard of successful ports on the Samsung Galaxy S II and the HTC […]
• Google Takeout promises radical left wing-themed data extraction for Circles, more (video) July 1, 2011 @ 3:06 am
  A team of khaki-clad Google engineers, calling itself the Data Liberation Front, has taken up the cause of freeing your data from the restrictive confines of El Goog's servers. Google Takeout, as the program has been billed, rips your various stashes of data from Buzz, Circles, Picasa, Contacts, and your Google Profile, and quickly bundles them in a zip […]
• Samsung announces 32GB microSD card capable of 12MBps write speeds June 30, 2011 @ 12:02 pm
  Go shopping online for a microSDHC card and you'll find that while manufacturers don't hide the speed specs, they're not exactly crowing about 'em either. Make no mistake, though: Samsung is mighty proud of its new 32GB number, which boasts a class 10 speed rating and read / write rates of 24MBps and 12MBps — ideal numbers for those of y […]