Gearlog

Withings WiFi Body Scale Tells Your Twitter Followers How Fat You Are

2009-11-10T22:17:15Z

Talk about a fail whale. Withings today announced that its recently introduced WiFi Body Scale now works with Twitter. Users can step on a scale and have their weight displayed nearly instantly, all over the World Wide Web. Why would a company create such a thing? Because it can, apparently. Says the company's general manager, Cedric Hutchings:

This social media feature was the next logical step in the evolution of the WiFi scale for our customers. Here at Withings we are committed to roll out new features and services on the field thanks to automatic updates. Adding this social functionality makes the WiFi scale by Withings the first true flagship of the Internet of Objects.

As the company is quick to point, results won't be automatically posted to Twitter; you'll have to enable that feature. Once enabled, the feature tweets your current weight and how much you've lost or gained. Ah, technology.

Quick, someone get Oprah on the phone.

AVerMedia Turns Your PC Into a DVR

2009-11-10T18:39:37Z

Why get a separate DVR when you already have a computer? That's the idea behind the just-released AVerTV HD DVR. This PCI Express card lets you record high-def video from your cable or satellite set-top box with two HDMI inputs. Use the included software to schedule recordings, and use the included dongle to input video from component, composite, and S-video connections, as well.

While the card records 1080i H.264 video, it does so at a 320-by-240 resolution, so it isn't right for playing back on a big screen. The company is billing it more for use with portable devices, such as the iPod, iPhone, and PSP. Gamers can record their game sessions and post them online, and anyone can burn their recordings to DVD. The card works with Windows 7, Vista, and XP computers. Pick up the card from AVerMedia's site for $99.

Yahoo Joins Free WiFi Race in Times Square

2009-11-10T15:21:20Z

Not to be outdone by Google's recent gift of free WiFi to 47 airports across the US, Yahoo is getting into the game. As part of its bold new advertising push, the company announced today that it will be bringing free WiFi to New York's Times Square for the next year.

"While Yahoo! is the place where your world meets the world online, over 500,000 of you take in Times Square each day and it's become a central spot for New Yorkers and people around the world," the company wrote in a blog post today. "We and our partners at the Times Square Alliance think it's the perfect place to bring you free WiFi service."

The WiFi will be accessible both on PCs and mobile devices, because, as every New York already knows, the sidewalks of Times Square definitely need more distractions.

Intel Releases Pricey E-Reader for the Blind

2009-11-10T15:11:15Z

Intel this week released its Reader, a new e-book device aimed at the visually impaired. Like the latest Kindle, the $1,499 device can read aloud from digital book files. Unlike Amazon's device, however, the Reader can capture digital images with a high-res camera and read aloud from those as well. The device can also capture text from Web sites.

"We want people to experience the independence of being able to read on their own in a public place or anywhere they want to," the device's developer told Venture Beat. "A metaphor for this are the ramps that make buildings wheelchair accessible. This reader is like a ramp."

The Reader is roughly the size of a paperback. It can read DAISY formatted text and plain text and can play MP3 files.

Motorola Sells "Probably 100,000" Droids in First Weekend

2009-11-10T15:01:15Z

How good were sales for the Motorola Droid during the phone's first weekend? Good--quite good, in fact, though Verizon's first Android handset is certainly no iPhone. Analyst estimates put sales at "probably 100,000" units, given that Verizon stores had 200,000 units available, with most stores selling roughly half their stock.

Motorola has yet to issue an official tally, taking into account retail locations like Best Buy, which offered an instant rebate on the device. I visited a Best Buy in Manhattan on Friday evening, and the store was already nearing the end of its non-pre-order stock.

All said, the numbers seem to be a good sign for Motorola, which has been stumbling to stay afloat in the handset market for most of the year.

Google Brings Free Airport WiFi to a Number of Cities

2009-11-10T14:35:52Z

Google is getting into the holiday spirit early this year, bringing the gift of free WiFi to 47 US airports, including Las Vegas, San Jose, Boston, Baltimore, Burbank, Houston, Indianapolis, Seattle, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, St. Louis, and Charlotte. Free WiFi will be available in those airports now through January 15. The Burbank and Seattle airports will be getting their free WiFi on indefinitely.

Those who fly out on Virgin Airlines will be getting free WiFi the whole way, as the two companies recently announced their own free holiday WiFi partnership. The company will also be matching donations made to Engineers Without Borders, the One Economy Corporation, and the Climate Savers Computing Initiative over the networks, up to $250,000. The airport with the largest donation total will receive $15,000 to donate to the charity of its choice.

New Barnes & Noble Nook Shipments Pushed to Dec. 11

2009-11-09T23:18:28Z

Looking to buy a Barnes & Noble Nook e-reader in time for the holidays? Better place your orders now.

When B&N first announced the e-reader on Oct. 21, it said they would be available by the end of November, but people purchasing the devices online are now being told that they will have to wait until Dec. 11, according to Brighthand.com.

If you already pre-ordered, you are scheduled to ship on Nov. 30, but future buyers will have to wait an extra week or so. That is, if the devices actually make it to the shelves. Last week, Spring Design filed suit against B&N, accusing them of stealing the idea for the Nook and asking the court to stop B&N from selling their device.

Netbooks Help Boost Chip Sales by 23 Percent in 3Q

2009-11-09T23:06:00Z

Worldwide PC micro-processor shipments jumped a record 23 percent in the third quarter, according to Monday data from IDC.

That represents an all-time high for a single quarter, driven largely by mobile PC processors for Atom-based netbooks, and particularly those made and sold in China.

"Compared to where the market was at the beginning of 2009, PC processors have come back remarkably strong," said Shane Rau, director of semiconductor and personal computing research at IDC.

Unit sales were up 23 percent, but revenue was up only 14 percent, due to the low average selling price of netbooks. However, "since PC processor shipments overall just slightly exceeded shipments in 3Q08 - which was itself a record quarter at the time - we know that the processor market is recovering," Rau said.

Unit sales for mobile PC processors, including Intel's Atom processors for netbooks, grew 35.7 percent compared to the second quarter. Desktop processor sales grew 11.4 percent, while x86 server processors jumped 12.2 percent quarter over quarter.

Intel continued to dominate the space.

Get the rest of this story at pcmag.com.

Hands On: enTourage eDGe eBook Reader Runs Android

2009-11-09T22:55:02Z

The enTourage eDGe, a dual-screen eBook reader that sports both a 9.7-inch electronic ink display and 10.1-inch LCD, is part e-book reader, part netbook, and will cost $490 when it hits the market in February. The eDGe was originally designed with students in mind, but I can see how the fully integrated device, which offers both Wi-Fi and an optional 3G module, could appeal to a much broader audience, including a variety of professionals.

The 10.75-x 8.25-x 1-inch (HWD) device, at 2.75 pounds. is larger and heavier than most eBook readers, thanks to its dual displays and vastly superior connectivity options. The device's LCD offers a 1024-by-600-pixel resolution, and features resistive touch, responding to anything from a stylus to your finger for navigation. The 1,200-by-825-pixel electronic ink display is Wacom Penabled, so you'll need to use the included stylus for navigation and note taking.

The eDGe includes 3GB of usable built-in storage, BlueTooth 2.1, an SD card slot, two USB ports, standard-size headphone and microphone jacks, built-in stereo speakers, and a Lithium-ion polymer battery capable of powering the device for over 16 hours when using the electronic ink display, or up to 6 hours with both displays in use.

The eDGe will ship with Android 1.5 Donut when released, but a 2.0 Eclair update is in the works.

Users select eBook content using the touchscreen LCD, which is then displayed on the electronic ink display.

Though the LCD is backlit, the electronic ink display is not, offering superior battery life.

Users can take notes or doodle on the electronic ink display using the included stylus.

Tapping a link on the electronic ink display will launch the Android Web browser on the LCD.

The LCD is capable of displaying full Web pages, and even includes Adobe Flash Lite support.

When closed, the (not yet functional) eDGe is 1-inch thick -- significantly thinner than the functional prototype that we were able to use today.

The eDGe is 0.5-inches thick when open -- not much larger than the iPhone pictured here.

The eDGe supports video playback, and includes built-in stereo speakers, and a pair of microphones with active noise cancellation for recording meetings or lectures.

Photos by PJ Jacobowitz

U.S. Motorola Droid Does—and Doesn't—Have Pinch-and-Zoom

2009-11-09T20:42:59Z

Droid owners, some good news appeared today: You can use pinch-and-zoom on your device. Well, sometimes. Here's the saga about his multi-touch feature, in a nutshell.

10/27: Google announces the smartphone OS Android 2.0. It officially supports multi-touch but not pinch-and-zoom. The software developer kit allows developers to build applications that support multi-touch gestures: Google Shows Android 2.0 to Developers.

10/28: Motorola announces the "Droid" for Verizon Wireless, and it officially lacks pinch-and-zoom gestures in its native applications: Unboxing the Verizon Droid: the Pictures.

11/2: Motorola announces the Milestone, A.K.A. the Droid for Europe. It offers multi-touch gestures, including pinch-and-zoom, built into the native Web browser and picture-viewer applications: Euro Droid Phone Gets Multitouch; Americans Don't

11/3: When questioned by us as to why native pinch-and-zoom support was not included in the Droid, Motorola said:

In response to your question regarding differences between MILESTONE and DROID, we work very closely with our carriers and partners to deliver differentiated consumer experiences on our mobile devices. At times, similar devices come to market with different features, depending on the region, carrier preferences and consumer needs.

Droid Lacks Multi-Touch Gestures: Motorola Responds

11/5: Verizon announces the Droid Eris by HTC--an Android phone that which includes native pinch-and-zoom in its native Web browser and picture viewer. The fact that Verizon Wireless offers an Android device with native applications that support pinch-and-zoom seems to contradict what Motorola's statement inferred. We pointed this out to Motorola, but the company has yet to respond. Hands On with the Verizon Droid Eris.

Also, Engadget discovers that a pinch-and-zoom-capable application for Android is available in the Android Market&mdash:an photo-editing app called Picsay. It is currently available for download: Motorola DROID's built-in apps don't have multitouch support, third-party stuff is another story.

AT&T Shows Off Connected Slippers

2009-11-09T18:48:03Z

Telephone giant/punching-bag AT&T showed off some undeniably cool future tech at last week's AT&T Technology Showcase in San Francisco--including a concept for AirGraffiti, where mobile phone users can leave videos, photos, and songs "in the air" for others to find--but the one that really grabbed our attention was the demo of "smart slippers."

These cushy slippers give the home network a whole new purpose. They contain sensors that can tell how a person is walking, and then report that data to the home network. If the wearer is unsteady on their feet, the system could issue a warning. If the wearer falls, the system could alert someone. While it's only a concept now, it could one day be a lifesaver for older people living alone.

For more, check out the video of AT&T Labs research director Lusheng Ji showing off a slipper and the monitoring software. At the end of the video, Ji also shows a connected pill holder that can tell people when to take their medicine.

RadioShack to Sell iPhones Next Year

2009-11-09T16:27:18Z

RadioShack (or should I say, the Shack?) has entered into a deal with Apple that will allow the electronics chain to begin selling the iPhone nationwide next year. Select locations are getting a jump on the action, stocking the iPhone 3G and 3Gs this month.

Wal-mart and Best Buy already stock the handset, but news of the deal still caused a jump in the RadioShack's market outlook. Note that this isn't the first deal between Apple and RadioShack. The chain has been carrying iPods since 2005.

Jailbroken iPhones Rickrolled by Worm

2009-11-09T14:49:24Z

A hacker has made good on Apple's warnings about security issues on jailbroken iPhones: Owners of infected handsets are greeted by a new wallpaper featuring the image of 80s pop star Rick Astley and the message, "ikee is never gonna give you up." iPhone owners, you've just been Rickrolled.

The worm reportedly doesn't do anything malicious--well, nothing more malicious than resurrecting an old 4chan prank. Of course, this may well just be a proof of concept hack from its programmer; the door to more malicious attacks, it seems, is now wide open.

Verizon Fights Back Against AT&T iPhone With Holiday Cheer, Clay

2009-11-09T14:34:21Z

The unprecedented buzz (well, for Verizon) surrounding the Motorola Droid over the past couple of weeks resulted in, among other things, renewed rumors about the release of the iPhone on that carrier. Verizon, for its part, has spent a good amount of time attacking AT&T's network: an act that the nation's largest wireless carrier isn't taking lying down (or without a lawsuit).

As it gears up for the holidays, Verizon is taking a more tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole fight with a series of ads including the above Rankin/Bass holiday throwback, which casts the iPhone on the "Island of Misfit Toys." A new holiday classic? Probably not, but the carrier certainly gets points for creativity, humor, and the use of stop-motion clay figurines.

Check out two more holiday spots from the company, after the jump.

Nokia Recalls 14 Million AC Adapters

2009-11-09T11:52:05Z

Anyone who bought a Nokia cell phone recently listen up: Nokia has just launched a recall program for certain Nokia-branded AC adapters.

"We have determined that the plastic covers of the affected chargers could come loose and separate, exposing the charger's internal components and potentially posing an electric shock hazard if certain internal components are touched while the charger is plugged into a live socket."

Sounds fun. Engadget Mobile reports that the affected chargers are models AC-3E and AC-3U, manufactured between June 15 and August 9, 2009, and model AC-4U, manufactured between April 13 and October 25, 2009. Check out Nokia's dedicated recall Web site for more information on obtaining a free replacement.