The Intel P55 Express chipset snafu that caused iPhones to lose their syncing minds has now been remedied -- at least by one motherboard maker. Gigabyte has issued a BIOS update making things all hunky-dory between the phone and the mobo, putting your troubles to an end. The P55 is Intels latest midrange chipset and orchestrates things for newer Core i5 / i7 machines. The other two P55 purveyors, ASUS and MSI, were also caught by the bug, and there are anecdotal reports of success with an ASUS BIOS update, but not official fixes as of yet. Given the competitive nature of this market, though, wed be surprised if those two companies didnt quickly follow suit. Alls well that ends well, right?Gigabyte Beta BIOS download page
Update fixes iPhone sync problem
Weve seen mixtures of Roomba and Pac-Man before, but nothing like this. A team of developers have hacked five floor-cleaning bots to create a sort of OCD version of the game, with the Pac-Man bot sucking up little white rectangles whilst being chased by robot incarnations of Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde. But, when the Pac-Man vacuum finds a power pellet those ghostly rovers turn blue and start fleeing. The tech is supposed to be a demonstration of the developers Unmanned Aerial System suite, designed for guidance of airborne vehicles, but were too busy geeking out to care about potential real-world applications of this tech. Video below.
It wasnt long ago that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was packing theaters, but given how quickly things hit DVD and Blu-ray these days were surprised to learn this one wont be flinging vermicelli to disc until just after the holidays. Fear not carb-lovers: similar to the Hancock deal last year, new purchasers of internet-capable Sony TVs and Blu-ray players will be receiving one free stream of the film starting on December 8; thats nearly a full month ahead of the retail release. The stream will be in 720p and will allow full control during 24 hours. What if youve already purchased your Sony setup? The company is happy to extend the streaming offer to you as well -- so long as you dont mind paying a mere $24.95. Yes, a one-time 720p rental that costs as much as a Blu-ray. Thats value.
Were getting ever closer to wireless power, but without a doubt have many years of life with plugs ahead of us. Its a drag, but fancy concept receptacles help to make our tethered existences slightly more interesting. The UK Folding Plug concept wowed us over the summer, and Art Lebedevs Rozetkus power strip from a few years ago was great, but now his studio is taking us to a new dimension with the Rozetkus 3D socket. It looks like an unassuming and soothingly blue socket but, push the little button above, and it pops out like a Lemarchand box with openings (and, possibly, eternal damnation) on each face. No word on a possible release, but were guessing manufacturers foreign and domestic are flooding Arts inbox right this very moment.
NASA has been trying to find someone that could meet its rigorous Space Elevator demands since 2005 and, after some notable failures, we finally have a winner. A company called LaserMotive has won the Beam Power Challenge, tasked with creating a laser-powered robot able to lift a weight on a cable at a speed of greater than two meters per second. LaserMotives bot nearly doubled that, managing 3.9 meters per second in one test. It was the only competitor to beat the requirement, meaning it gets the full $900,000 prize, and if anyone ever gets around to winning the Tether Challenge we might just be able to get somewhere. Nausea-inducing test video is embedded below.
The third time round hasnt brought any luck to the space elevator crowd. The NASA-sponsored challenge is in its third year of running, and while technology is improving at a rapid rate, its still not quite ready to meet the Space Elevator challenges demands. Speed requirements have been boosted to 2 meters per second, and this years contest seems have gone off without the geeky rule disputes of last year. The University of Saskatchewan came closest to claiming the prize with its ground laser-powered bot, and only fell a few seconds short of the required speed. Hopefully next year will see a winner, and well all get our shot at being fried by ionizing radiation before the century is up.
Apparently building space elevators in ones spare time is becoming a common hobby for 
Samsung and Qualcomm have wrapped up a cross-licensing deal with ten figures of US currency in it, which will permit the Korean giant to continue producing 3G- and 4G-enabled wireless devices for the next 15 years. In exchange, Samsung is letting Qualcomm make use of its own 57 patents on mobile technology and splashing out a further $1.3 billion as a down payment. Further royalty payments are involved, but not detailed, but just as a reference point, thats more than the new Dallas Cowboys stadium and its ultra-huge scoreboard cost to build. The move is a renewal of the two companies current arrangement and Samsung has boldly claimed the terms of the new contract are more favorable to it, but we get the feeling the champagne will be flowing in San Diego this week. 
Because what the world needs now is yet another mobile operating system, Samsung has announced its foray into the field with Bada. Not much to reveal at this point other than some key PR speak: the name means "ocean" in Korean, the companys committed to "a variety of open platforms" in mobile industry and it plans this to be easy to integrate / customize based on carriers experience. All real news should be coming sometime in December, when Sammy is saying itll have a London launch event and reveal the SDK. Full presser after the break.
You think maybe the cats at NVIDIA are a little hot to trot on the tablet concept? Not only did Mike Rayfield (the companys general manger of its mobile division) spout off on a "3G capable touchpad" a few months ago, but CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has been spotted in Dubai with some seriously radical looking hardware. When we hit a post on Huang and his love for all things Apple earlier today, we somehow missed a pic of the CEO hanging tough with that handsome slab you see up above. Were not going to speculate on what it all means, but from the looks of things, NVIDIA is trying to drum up hype around the concept of a Tegra-powered handheld thats just a bit more sizable than your standard PMP. Of course, if you were hoping for more than a tease (like, you know, a partnership announcement or something), you can just keep on waiting.
T-Mobile is now offering unlimited voice for little enough cash through its Even More promo these days that its officially bidding myFaves adieu, spelling out the final chapter of one of the better-known plan packages in the US wireless biz. It wont go away completely -- the myFaves app will apparently continue to be offered as a convenient, cutesy way to access five frequent contacts and existing subscribers wont be kicked off their plans -- but for new subscribers, Even More is being billed as the spiritual successor. For the record, unlimited voice through Even More Plus starts at $49.99, so the price is definitely right -- but more importantly will this end up meaning that we lose the beloved silkscreened myFaves logo on the back of virtually every T-Mobile handset sold today?
Its not quite as sleek as some homebrew-minded handhelds, or as full-featured as some others, but anything that hearkens back to the days when videos games were measured in bits gets a few points in our book, and this new Neo Slim 3000 looks to have things well covered on that front. While complete details are still a bit light, this one is said to pack a 3.5-inch 320 x 240 display, 2GB of built-in memory, an SD card slot for expansion, a full range of PMP features and, most importantly, support for NES, SNES, Genesis, and Game Boy Advance emulation right out of the box -- with other options presumably also available depending on the devices capabilities. Still no word on a price just yet, but the folks at Neoflash say this one is "coming soon."
A little later than previously alluded to, but Navigons finally rolling out live traffic update to its MobileNavigator iPhone app. Same prices as mentioned before, itll regularly be $24.99, but for the next four weeks, its only gonna ring up at $19.99 for lifetime use, no monthly fees. Not that TomTom needed anything else to think about, of course. Full presser after the break.
If youre in the market for an Apple handheld-friendly pico projector, youre in luck. Sparkz is a bulbous white dock that will play nice with your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPod video, as well as your favorite A/V and VGA sources. Featuring 640 x 480 resolution, a 60-inch viewing area, and stereo speakers, it can be yours for the low, low price of -- $495? Well, it will charge your iPhone. And it does come with a tripod. And, to be honest, a 60-inch viewing area is none too shabby. If you think its worth it, by all means hit that read link and snatch one up. In the meantime, well content ourselves with watching the video of the thing in action. Its after the break, and its free.
You know, RFID hasnt done much for itself in the consumer market. To most average Joes and Janes, the tech is really only around for use in complex supply chains and warehouses that theyd rather block from their minds. Thanks to Roteno Labs, we now have at least one glorious example of just how awesome RFID tags truly are, as the RFiDJ project demonstrates how tagged coasters can be used to instantly switch playlists stored on an HTPC. You simply set a designated coaster on top of the machine, and within seconds a new playlist is activated. We hear that videos actually do speak louder than words, so well just stop here and beg you to hop on past the break for a memorable encounter with splendiferousness.
The DROID might have started us down the road of dark sci-fi phone ads, but this new Nokia N900 spot takes things to the disturbing next level. We have no idea of what any of this means -- and were not too sure Nokia really wants to suggest that its new flagship device is the cellphone manifestation of Twitchy McSanity here. Youll see what we mean -- video after the break.
While were busying ourselves with arguing about how to replace the perfectly usable book gadget, Intel is right to point out that plenty of people, for whatever reason, cant read at all. Presenting its Reader as a necessity rather than luxury, Intel has shown off its vision for how visually impaired and dyslexic people can obtain access to the written word. Combining a text-scanning camera with a text-to-speech engine (powered by an Atom inside) is certainly no bad idea, but as the video beyond the break will show you, Intels execution isnt exactly stellar. The arrhythmic, robotic reading from Alice In Wonderland left us shaken, but what floored us was the $1,499 asking price. Yes, its a customized niche device, but we reckon we could build something similar for a third of the price. Full PR and video after the break.Show full PR textReady, Set, Read: Intel® Reader Transforms Printed Text to Spoken Word
The Irish may be a few hours ahead of us Yanks, but thats not stopping us from snooping on their web pages. Dells long-awaited Inspiron Zino HD has finally popped official over on the outfits IE portal, and considering that it even made a brief appearance on the US site over the weekend, were guessing its only a matter of hours, minutes and / or nanoseconds before the minuscule desktop shows up everywhere. A total of ten interchangeable colors and designs are being offered on the machine (which gets going at €329), not to mention an integrated HDMI socket and an optional Blu-ray drive. Unlike most of the mini PCs out there today, this one actually has a specs list worth drooling over, and if we can figure out how to get a TV tuner in here, wed say we just might be looking at our next bedroom HTPC. Cmon US admins -- its not that early in Round Rock.
The lines may have been subdued, but one way or another, it sounds as if Motorola managed to sell quite a few DROIDs over the weekend. According to analyst Mark McKechnie at Broadpoint AmTech, the outfit managed to move around 100,000 of em during the opening weekend, with most stores moving at least half of their original shipments. He also estimated that Moto would sell one million Android-based phones in Q4 2009 alone (which includes the CLIQ, obviously), and that he viewed the first few days as "encouraging." Its been a long, long while since weve been able to say this, but hey -- nice job, Motorola.
We already knew that Apples homegrown Mini DisplayPort connector was being baked into the DisplayPort 1.2 specifications, but now said socket has even more validity in the marketplace thanks to a ringing endorsement from the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). As of now, the diminutive connector has managed to comply with all of the signaling and protocol capabilities defined in the DisplayPort Standard Version 1, Revision 1a, and were told that DisplayPort 1.2 -- which incorporates mDP and doubles available bandwidth to 21.6Gb/second -- is nearing finalization. Looks like we can finally look forward to seeing products take advantage of this socket aside from those Designed In California (and copied shamelessly in the outskirts of Shenzhen).
If Apples no-fee licensing wasnt enough to entice manufacturers, the Mini DisplayPort connector is now being added to VESAs DisplayPort 1.2 specifications. The update will also double the available bandwidth to 5.4Gbps, which can be used for 1920 x 1080 stereoscopic 3D imagery, four 1920 x 1200 screens, or one massive 3840 x 2160 display. According to Register Hardware, the 1.2 standard will be published by the middle of this year. 
When Nokia talks about the future its generally a good idea to pay attention. After all, even with diminishing market share, a split Maemo and Symbian smartphone strategy, and less than stellar financials, the company remains the worlds leading supplier of handsets with a proven ability to innovate. So take notice when Nokias head of corporate strategy, Heikki Norta, describes what life will be like in 2015 in a video littered with high-tech devices driven by finger-based UIs. Of course, five years is generally only enough time for the nascent technologies we see today to mature enough for mass market acceptance -- in other words, readers of Engadget wont find anything mind-blowing in a presentation laced with liberal doses of augmented reality, pervasive connectivity, dual-display clamshells, and as always: micro projectors and laser keyboards. Beyond hardware and software, Nokia sees itself at the heart of a global network aggregating data from hundreds of millions of intelligent devices for an unprecedented level of knowledge sharing that enables services such as highly localized traffic reports and weather trends. Fun stuff and certainly worth a few minutes to ponder on your own. Still, its difficult to get too excited by the vision from a company that was not only totally caught off guard by consumer trends at the margin-rich (read: money making) end of its devices portfolio, but also so slow to respond in any meaningful way.
Everyone whos ever been stuck in traffic always would love to know exactly what the road conditions are like. Sure theres those news radio stations that interrupt every three minutes to tell you how the freeway youre on is totally backed up, but those often dont tell you how to route yourself around the problem. TomTom and Vodafone have just partnered to create a new type of commercial traffic data system based on thousands of mobile phones that will describe traffic conditions in real-time. The idea is that by using the regular signaling information between the handset and the base station, the location and speed of the handset can be determined at any given time. Combine that information across a region among thousands of drivers who become data points, and a picture emerges of how backed a given freeway really is -- enabling TomTom to provide detours much more quickly than previously possible. The program is set to be launched in the Netherlands in the second half of 2007 -- so for all you folks who commute into the Dutch metropolises of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, you may want to renew your Vodafone subscription pronto.
If youre not satisfied with the driving directions you get on Google Maps, a few smart guys at MIT have created an elaborate new toy called CarTel just for you. Theyve equipped a fleet of Boston-area cars with computers that automatically connect to any 802.11 access points detected in transit, then send home data recorded by their on board diagnostic systems, all in just a few hundred milliseconds. The result: a website that gives you directions based on information gathered in real-time so you can avoid high-traffic areas or say, if its raining, roads which have historically been congested in adverse weather conditions -- no GPS required. The project also keeps a record of all access points detected, so think of it as wardriving for the good of humanity -- and you (probably) wouldnt even get arrested for participating!
Nokias General Manager of Mobile Devices, Antti Vasara, had some interesting things to say in an interview with Swedens E24.SE this morning. Of course, the fact that the E90 ramp-up has begun is notable, especially if you happen to be reading this in Finland where the first shipments of the hotly anticipated communicator will rollout. However, what we found to be most enlightening is Nokias take on the recent trend towards high-end touchscreen displays -- a la the LG Prada, HTC Touch, and Apple iPhone.
Were not really sure whether to consider this patronizing or genuinely useful. Former Blue Peter presenter Valerie Singleton, who is herself at an advanced age now, has partnered with Wessex Computers to create a custom Linux desktop targeted at easing the elderly into the use of a computer. Dubbed SimplicITy (the Brits do love their puns), it features only six chunky buttons that lead to a web or file browser, chat, email and profile apps, and awesomely enough, video tutorials from Valerie herself. Once you get your web-legs under you and feel confident enough to handle more complexity, you can disable the SimplicITy desktop and use a more conventional Linux distro. Hit the read link for a video of one ladys reaction to the software.
GameStop has been dropping hints about its digital download plans for a little while now, but it looks to have done its most extensive and official talking about the matter yet at the recent BMO Capital Management Digital Entertainment conference, where it confirmed that it will start testing the program "early next year" with kiosks in an unspecified number of stores. That program will apparently work in conjunction with services "such as Microsoft Corps Xbox Live and Sony Corps PlayStation Network," and will focus primarily on add-on content rather than full game downloads. Whys that, you ask? Well it seems that GameStop thinks "a large market for full game downloads is not imminent, (but) the add-on downloadable market will grow" -- a view that some would obviously beg to differ with.
Were not super familiar with the term "steamrolling along" as it applies to device launches, but apparently its good news for Michael Arringtons CrunchPad tablet. Mike dropped the news on a recent episode of Steve Gillmors "Gillmor Gang" podcast (like "Gilmore Girls," but with less inter-generational drama), saying that hes not sure where the rumor of cost being too high came from, since costs continue to come down. The "$300 to $400" price range hes quoting is a bit higher than wed heard previously, but it still sounds pretty good for a 12-inch touchscreen device. He also made mention of "soft revenue" and "sponsorships" on the device, akin to the revenue Firefox gets from its Google search box, and added that it wont impact the user experience. Outside of those tidbits Mike says theyre working on making it "perfect," and that there should be some big news about the device coming shortly. Video is after the break, CrunchPad discussion starts at the 39 minute mark.
Sometimes when we see the seemingly slow advance of Hondas ASIMO, the inherent limitations of WowWee toys, or the purposefully limited one-off research projects of universities, we start to give up hope of being super best pals with a humanoid robot this century; hope of partaking in whimsical 80s movie hijinks, hand-in-metal-hand. This little video of the Korean Institute of Advanced Science and Technologys recent advances on its HUBO project therefore serves as a bit of a "hope refresher," allowing us to once again re-imagine those aforementioned scenes of whimsy with a metallic bot that can handle a sword and walk at an almost-useful pace, while inexplicably wearing a smallish, visored helmet. Sure, theres a long way to go, but wed just like to say that when the robot apocalypse doesnt happen and we realize how much we really have in common with these machines weve built to look like us, that somewhere in late 2009 this video helped us keep on believing.
Looks like the wait for a real HD PMP is finally over: Hallods of Japan has just released their F43 MP4 player featuring a 4.3-inch 1280x720 screen, easily beating other sub-5-inch, 480p screens found on big names like the Archos 5 and Viewsonics VPD400. Under that sharp screen is 8GB of internal storage and a hot-swappable microSD slot, along with a battery life of about four hours and ten hours for video and music, respectively. Like many PMPs out there the F43 supports videos encoded in MPEG4, FLV, RMVB and DivX-WVGA. Sure, theres the ironic lack of HDMI output, but for ¥16,800 ($188) this is still a pretty good deal. Lets just hope Hallods will send them over to the US soon.
Well, well. Apples won its copyright infringement claim against would-be Mac cloner Psystar in California. Anyone surprised? As weve been saying all along, the key argument wasnt the OS X EULA or Psystars failed monopoly claims, but pure, simple copyright infringement, since Psystar was illegally copying, modifying, and distributing Apples code. Psystar was also dinged for circumventing Apples kernel encryption in violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, but thats just another nail in the coffin, really. Theres still some legal fireworks to come, as Apples various other claims like breach of contract, trademark infringement, and unfair competition werent addressed in this ruling, but those are all secondary issues now -- and wed expect this decision to have quite an impact on the other case currently ongoing in Florida. Weve broken down the highlights after the break, hit up the read link for the PDF and follow along.
Good news for folks who against all odds dont have a home theater Netflix streaming option yet, and yet inexplicably own an internet-connected Sony BRAVIA TV: Netflix just went live. It just takes applying the latest software update and youre in business. BRAVIA owners were promised the update back in July, and let us be the first to point and laugh insensitively at PS3 owners who have use a "DVD" to get Netflix working on their Cell-powered supermachines.
Thanksgiving is moving ever closer -- and we all know what that means: the day that comes after. Thats right, theres nothing more American than following up a day of thanks with a day of hitting the malls, strip malls, big boxes, and virtual shops up for the hottest deals to be found this side of the Atlantic. Weve rounded up a few of the more choice deals weve found on the net for you so you dont have to search all alone... and first up, Office Depots got a 17.3-inch,Windows 7-boasting Toshiba Satellite L555D-S7930 for $649 and a 12 megapixel Nikon Coolipix S570 for $200, while over at Best Buy you can grab up a 120GB PS3 with three games for $300, with a host of cheap video games for Xbox 360 and PS3. Finally mammoth of the retail world Sears has a Canon EOS Rebel XS for $570, plus some of the cheapest digital photo frames around and a DVD player for $18. Youre getting excited, arent you?
Weve seen outfit after outfit trumpet their long-lasting optical storage wares before, but Cranberry seems different. Rather than promising that whatever miracle theyve just unearthed will be available "in the very near future," this company is selling its wonder product right now. The so-called DiamonDisc -- which is reportedly constructed from "diamond-hard stone" -- is designed to store precious memories for 1,000 years or more, and its even built to withstand "temperatures extending up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit as well as UV rays that would destroy conventional DVD discs." Unfortunately, each disc holds just 4.7GB of information, and each one will run you $34.95 if purchased individually. Oh, and its only playable on "most" regular DVD drives, so across-the-board compatibility seems less than likely. The more we think about it, the more sense that whole "just carve it into stone for future generations to see" mantra makes. Kudos, cavemen.
There was a brief moment in time when unveiling an "optical storage technology that can provide 40 times the capacity of Blu-ray and over 200 times the capacity of DVD" would be momentous, but unfortunately for Call/Recall, its just one of the herd at this point. Nevertheless, the company is pushing forward in its development of "2-photon 3D technology" that can purportedly stuff many terabytes of data onto a "DVD-sized disc" or even cram 50GB onto a one-inch disc aimed at cellphones and mobile media players. The system relies on a "2-photon recording process to record bits in a three-dimensional volume in a disk," which can stuff multiple layers atop one another in order to give users more room to work with. As expected, theres little to be said about an actual mainstream release of the so-called solution, and besides, were having a hard enough time swallowing the pricetags of existing high-density storage drives.
Were confused as to how technology that was supposed to be available in 2006 can still be featured at an Emerging Tech conference in 2009, but so it is for General Electrics attempt at holographic storage. Predicting drives for archival purposes in two or three years with consumer products around two years after that, manager Peter Lorraine claims Blu-ray has "two to four years of life to go" and expects licensees to clean up with speedy 3ms access time, 1TB storing (up from a mere 200GB), backwards compatible hardware. The latter portion, plus other breakthroughs in cost and reliability are listed as reasons to believe the market will catch HVD anytime soon, but right now its about as likely returning to a matching 2006-era MySpace page or believing Wolf was staring at anything other than a mark on the floor on Election Night.
Archos has already made it abundantly clear that its Windows 7-based Archos 9 media player is US-bound, but just in case you were worried over legalities, this FCC filing should crank your stress level down a notch. Best of all, this particular entry includes external and internal photographs, meaning that the camera-toting employees within the deep, dark FCC labs are actually credited with handling the (admittedly messy) dissection. Shocking pixels await you in the read link, so make sure you go in fully prepared.