It’s hard to believe, but it’s been exactly ten years since the iPod was first unveiled, ultimately changing the music industry forever. The iPod wasn’t the first, it wasn’t the smallest, it didn’t have the largest hard drive, but it did have an iconic style and simple to use interface that led march away from CDs. When the history of Apple is written the iPod (perhaps more than the iMac, OS X or the iPhone) will be credited with helping spearhead the company’s second coming. Over the years the music player has seen countless iterations and redesigns, and an expansion of the product line to include smaller devices and touch screens — but for most it’s the scroll wheel and white earbuds that define the iPod. Sure, what is now called the iPod classic hasn’t seen a serious update since about 2007, but it still holds a special place in our hearts, especially for those of us who don’t measure their music collection in a few dozen iTunes downloads.

The iPod turns 10, celebrates a decade of destroying physical media originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading The Deleted City visualizes GeoCities as it was, today

The Deleted City visualizes GeoCities as it was, today originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Check out our highlighted picks of the week right here, followed after the break by our weekly listings of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

Sons of Anarchy
SAMCRO is back in action. This isn’t the highest profile cable show on this week (don’t forget the Entourage and Rescue Me season finales) but as it comes back for a fourth season we are always ready to see what’s going down in Charming, CA. After the events of last season things will kick off 14 months later, but we doubt a stint in prison will have changed many things for our favorite motorcycle club.
(September 6th, FX, 10PM)

9/11
If you weren’t planning on making next weekend an all 9/11 memorial event, we’d probably recommend steering clear of your TV. From CBS to USA to History to A&E there’s memorial specials and previously unseen footage everywhere you look. A wonderful opportunity to heal as a nation from the tragic events of a decade ago or a crass display of network executives cashing in on our collective grief? Your choice.

NFL
Professional football is finally back. After it seemed like the lockout mgiht last forever we’re getting the season under way on schedule. Both Engadget HD fantasy football leagues have drafted and our favorite teams will kick off in Tampa Bay on Sunday, but the league gets its official kickoff Thursday night as the Packers face the Saints on NBC. We know what we’ll be watching.
(September 8th, NBC, 8:30PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (September 5th – 11th)

Must See HDTV (September 5th – 11th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Droid Bionic may be the most hyped phone in the history of gadgetdom. The latest round of spy shots come from a Best Buy flyer, a tips and tricks manual and a pic purported to come from Verizon’s Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) system — all of which lead us to believe launch is right around the corner. Most of the info here is not terribly surprising (an 8 megapixel camera, 1GHz dual-core processor, etc…), but there is one detail that threw us for a loop — the screen is only 4.3-inches. Rumor had it that the Bionic had been bumped to a 4.5-incher, and photos of it next to a Charge seemed to bear that out. Well, that was primarily an illusion created by the large bezel and a pair of very petite hands. This also means the Droid HD is packing a 4.3-inch screen, which may disappoint those hoping for a truly expansive 720p display. On the plus side, we can tell you the Bionic will support WebTop, wireless printing, and ZumoCast for streaming media from your home PC. And per Droid Life, it’ll be priced at $299 when it goes on sale September 8th. Now, we just have to wait for Verizon and Motorola to make it all official. Head on past the break for two images, and check the source links for even more.

Continue reading Droid Bionic gets 4.3-inch display, yours for $299 on September 8?

Droid Bionic gets 4.3-inch display, yours for $299 on September 8? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why is this phone staring at the ground in dismay? Because it can’t believe that it’s been 30 years since it made history. On this day three decades ago, this 14 kilogram beast was used to place the very first call on Australia’s very first mobile network — the Public Automatic Telephone System, operated by Telstra (or Telecom, as it was known at the time). Back then, the network could only support 1,000 users at once and provide coverage for the greater Melbourne area (things have since changed for the better). The device, meanwhile, was known simply as The Mobile Phone and, in retrospect, wasn’t all that mobile; the carphone system included a 45 centimeter handset, a transceiver and rooftop antenna — all for a little over $5,000. It could also store a whopping 16 phone numbers and would notify users of incoming calls by sounding the car’s horn and flashing its headlights. The Mobile Phone’s Australian reign, however, would be relatively short-lived, with the DynaTAC 8000x ushering in a new handheld era, just two years after Telstra’s inaugural call. Dial past the break for a Wagnerian commercial that’ll tell you everything you always wanted to know about antiquity, but were too afraid to ask.

[Thanks, Vincent]

Continue reading Australia’s first mobile network celebrates 30th birthday with a quiet night in

Australia’s first mobile network celebrates 30th birthday with a quiet night in originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Aug 2011 07:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You read that correctly — Netflix streaming is about to get really real on impending Honeycomb tablets. One of the nuggets that makes Lenovo’s newly unveiled IdeaPad K1 so special is the internal DRM module that allows it to play nice with a fresh build of the Netflix app. As we saw back at MWC with the LG Revolution, future Android 3.x tablets (with an unspecified hardware inclusion) will not only support native Watch Instantly streaming over mini-HDMI / HDMI, but it’ll also enable something totally new: local storage. The fresh build of the app — which will remain exclusive to Lenovo for “a short while” — will have a heretofore unseen option that’ll let subscribers store flicks locally for offline viewing. We’re told by Lenovo that files can be stored on the internal flash as well as on microSD cards, and while we’ve yet to get a hands-on look at the app, we’ll be doing everything we can to change that.

Just to answer the obvious question: no, your existing Honeycomb tablet won’t be able to support this goodness through a firmware update. You’ll actually need a slate with the requisite hardware within to take advantage, and it’s hard to say at this point who will follow Lenovo down the path. We’re hoping that the added functionality won’t lead to a boost in Netflix’s monthly rate, but given the history of the app, we can’t say we’re too terrified about that possibility. So, how fast will the APK be ripped from the fabric of a K1 and thrown out onto the web? Somewhere between “quickly” and “you’ve got to be kidding me,” we’re surmising.

Netflix to stream natively from HDMI-equipped tablets, enable local storage with hardware DRM module originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week’s release of the HP TouchPad, the first device other than a handset to feature webOS, aptly demonstrates the promise and perils of HP’s adopted operating system. The 4:3 tablet provides the large canvas that webOS seemed born to cover. However, like the Xoom and PlayBook before it, the TouchPad suffers from an impoverished app library among other holes. To help share development costs of webOS and expand the market for its developers, HP has warmed to the idea of licensing the Palm-developed operating system.

HP’s willingness to license webOS while continuing to make devices based on the operating system serves up a healthy helping of d

If you work for Sony you might want go watch TV right now — there’s something on Discovery about ostriches and sand. Meanwhile, Microsoft just let us know that it’s sold 55 million Xbox 360s globally, which is very probably enough to maintain its lead over the PS3. Moreover, 360 sales in the US are still accelerating six years into its life-cycle, thanks largely to updates like Kinect — and Microsoft boasts that “no other console in history can make that claim.” Huzzah. Now, we’re not ones to snatch the pen from the victor’s hand, but remember: this claim is based on US stats, whereas the PS3 has generally been doing better in other regions. What’s more, neither the Wii nor the PS3 has yet reached its sixth birthday, so the story isn’t over. Nevertheless, the chart after the break does make Microsoft’s performance look damn impressive. Why is it that when you’re down, life just keeps on kicking?

Continue reading Microsoft sells 55 million Xbox 360 consoles, claims that’s console history

Microsoft sells 55 million Xbox 360 consoles, claims that’s console history originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last month we asked for a “funny pages” display in Google’s next release of Maps that shows a thick dotted line depicting where we’ve traveled, but it appears the folks at El Goog had a different agenda in mind for version 5.5. This time around, we see a few redesigns as well as some streamlined Latitude features. First, check-ins and ratings have now been added to the Places page, giving you one extra point of access; you also now have the option of changing your home or work address within your Latitude Location History, in case you ever move or just like to roam from place to place. Last but not least, Google Maps 5.5 for Android also offers reorganized transit station pages that now list off upcoming departures, transit lines serving that particular station, and links to other stops nearby. Though not a substantial upgrade from previous versions, it’s still impressive that Google pushed it out less than a month after 5.4. The new update is available as a free download in the Android Market.

Google Maps 5.5 for Android cops more Latitude, tweaks Places and transit pages originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 May 2011 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Microsoft’s Bill Buxton exhibits gadget collection 35 years in the making

Microsoft’s Bill Buxton exhibits gadget collection 35 years in the making originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 May 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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