Archive for May 29th, 2009

Yeah, you heard it right: another volume of Guitar Hero — the game you either love to hate or love to love — is making its debut on September 1st. This one, Guitar Hero 5, promises a bunch of features that are party friendly, such as the ability to play through sets with no players actively playing, allowing anyone to join in at any time — because we all know how many ragers are built around GH, right? It’s probably no coincidence that the release date comes exactly one week before that other music game, The Beatles: Rock Band. So, which one are you buying?

Filed under: Gaming

Guitar Hero 5 hits the streets September 1st, one week before the Fab Four originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Egs HiPhone Nano F210 borrows some of the aura of… well, the Aura. And why not? Half the fun of the KIRF scene is the way that these bandits mix and match aspects of devices according to whatever crazy whim they might be experiencing at the moment. (The other half of the fun? Exploding batteries, of course.) Along with the stylish and quite possibly functional iPod click wheel, this bad boy features: tri-band GSM, a 1.4-inch screen, VGA camera, Bluetooth A2DP, FM tuner, and some sort of media player. As China Grabber puts it: “This is tailor-made for small girls in mobile phones, will the pursuit of individuality, culture, dare to do you a taste of delicacy!!!” Yours today for $139.99. If you’re feeling lucky (or you’ve done something wrong in your past) hit that read link and see for yourself.

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Cellphones

Keepin’ it real fake, part CCXV: HiPhone Nano meets Aura in a knock-off of modest proportions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 16:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

It’s just been a few short months since a proposed bill called for the creation of a National Cybersecurity Advisor, but it looks like there’s now not one but two new positions in the offing, with both the Pentagon and President Obama himself announcing plans for some newly elevated offices charged with keeping the nation’s networks secure. While a specific “Cybersecurity Czar” hasn’t yet been named, the White House position will apparently be a member of both the National Security Council and National Economic Council and, in addition to coordinating U.S. response in the event of a major attack, the office will also be tasked with protecting privacy and civil liberties. Details on the new Pentagon office, on the other hand, are expectedly even less specific although, according to The New York Times, it’ll be a military command that will work to coordinate efforts now scattered across the four armed services, and will apparently serve as complement to the civilian office in the White House.

Read – Reuters, “Obama to name White House cybersecurity czar”
Read – The New York Times, “Pentagon Plans New Arm to Wage Cyberspace Wars”

[Thanks, Ryan]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Networking

White House, Pentagon announce plans for new cybersecurity positions originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 15:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

An incredible way to start the weekend, Storm owners: Verizon is finally pulling the trigger on a firmware update, which will be available to all comers starting on Sunday at 3PM Eastern time. If that’s too much trouble, you’ll alternatively be able to sit back, chill, and wait for the over-the-air version to hit, which should follow on at 10PM. Verizon tells us that it’ll be releasing 4.7.0.148, as rumored — just a tiny bump from the failed build 141 that had been rumored before that, but all told, far, far too long since the last official update was rolled out. We can only assume this has been tested better than a NASA launch at this point, so you’re on notice, guys.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Verizon finally releasing BlackBerry Storm update this weekend originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 15:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Oh look, it’s nearly time for Computex, which means it’s finally time for ECS to come out to play again. For whatever reason, it seems the aforesaid PC maker only pulls out the stakes for Taiwan’s biggest consumer electronics show, and with the doors opening early next week, we’re getting a sneak peek at what it’ll be bringing to the mix. Not surprisingly, three of the five new machines are said to be of the netbook variety, with the other two being all-in-one desktops. ‘Course, the whole lot will be humming along on Intel’s all-too-modest Atom, though we are led to believe that at least one rig will get equipped with NVIDIA’s promising Ion technology. The T10IL (shown left) is apt to steal most of the attention, boasting a thin-and-light frame that’ll look awfully similar to ASUS’ Eee PC 1008HA. The V10IL (shown right) is expected to be more of a vanilla type machine in terms of both design and specification, and the other guys are slated to be revealed at the show. You’re tense with anticipation, aren’t you?

Filed under: Laptops

ECS plans a trio of netbooks, duo of all-in-one PCs for Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

BMOW (Big Mess O’ Wires) is a DIY PC, complete with a hand wrapped 8-bit CPU. Built by a game developer named Steve Chamberlain, this bad boy operates at 2MHz and sports 512KB memory, two-color video output, and a 512 x 480 display. According to Wired, the processor is closest in design to the MOS Technology 6502 (previously seen in such classic machines as the Apple II, Commodore 64, and some early Atari game consoles), and it took him about a year and a half from design to finish. Visitors to the Maker Faire in San Francisco can see the machine in person (and play chess on it, to boot) over the weekend. The rest of yinz can feel free to hit the read link for meticulous build details and lots of colorful pictures.

[Via Wired]

Filed under: Desktops

Homebrew PC features 2MHz hand-wrapped CPU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 14:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

With Nilay on a well-deserved vacation and Josh on a whirlwind tour of the left coast for D7, E3 and WWDC, this week’s podcast got reshuffled a bit and won’t be available until late tonight or early tomorrow. For those of you who can survive the wait, you’ll be treated to a totally casual discussion between Josh and Paul of this week’s flood of news and the raw, inside story of a random hallway run-in with Steve Ballmer gone amuck.

Filed under: Podcasts

A quick note about the Engadget Podcast this week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Well, it wasn’t too hard to see this trend coming, but it looks like Foxconn is among the first out of the gate with a Moblin-running netbook at Computex Taipei, with its new SZ901 model opting for Linpus’ just-revealed distribution of the OS. As you might expect, however, there aren’t exactly many surprises beyond that welcome addition, with the 10.1-inch netbook packing the usual Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and built-in 3G, along with a glossy finish all around. No word on a price or release date just yet, but this is Foxconn after all, so there’s a good chance this one could be showing up under any number of different brands. Head on past the break for a quick hands-on courtesy of the folks at Netbooknews.de.

Continue reading Foxconn shows off Moblin-running SZ901 netbook

Filed under: Laptops

Foxconn shows off Moblin-running SZ901 netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 13:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

We’ve finally got the details on that Ford SYNC refresh we recently warned you about. According to the company, current owners of 2010 vehicles with the device now can download and install the latest TDI (Traffic, Directions and Information) app for free. As mentioned before, the app connects a customer’s Bluetooth-enabled cell phone to Ford’s Service Delivery Network voice portal for turn-by-turn driving directions, real-time traffic, business searches, news, sports and weather. This bad boy will be available on all 2010 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles equipped with SYNC, $395. The sale price includes service for the first three years. Ready to SYNC your ride? Do you find the phrase “SYNC my ride” as amusing as we do? Hit that read link.

Filed under: Transportation

Ford offers SYNC TDI update free for 2010 model owners originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

You’re already well aware of what GigaPan’s wild camera robot is capable of when its in masterly hands, but have you ever wondered if such a device is practical for folks who don’t have excellent seats for events such as Presidential inaugurations or the Arirang Mass Games? We’ve been toying around with an Epic 100 for the past week and change, and now that we’ve had a moment to upload a few of our own panoramas, we figured we’d toss our two pennies into the ring. Eager to know if this gigapixel image creator is really worth its avoirdupois in cold, hard cash? Head on past the break to find out.

Continue reading GigaPan Epic 100 hands-on and review, panorama style

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Peripherals

GigaPan Epic 100 hands-on and review, panorama style originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 May 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments