Thursday, September 15, 2011

drag2share: Shocker: Verizon director admits to LTE-Advanced future

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/shocker-verizon-director-admits-to-lte-advanced-future/

AT&T took to the stage to announce its LTE network will go live on Sunday, which means today's the perfect day for its fiercest rival to one-up the news. Verizon's director of network technology Praveen Atreya, dropped the rather unsurprising news that the next natural step in the company's data evolution chain will be LTE-Advanced. Don't get your hopes up so fast, though: Atreya says it's still too early in the game to test the new tech or figure out its potential speeds (spoiler: they'll be disgustingly fast), so we're likely not going to see any widescale deployment for at least the next few years. Still, we're always looking forward to the next best thing, so learning that Big Red is following Clearwire's lead in adopting the technology is reassuring, to say the least.

Shocker: Verizon director admits to LTE-Advanced future originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 11:20 PM

drag2share: Samsung Epic 4G Touch review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/samsung-epic-4g-touch-review/

If you haven't heard about the Samsung Galaxy S II by now, you're definitely tardy to the party. But as the proverbial saying goes, it's better late than never, right? The Galaxy S, its predecessor with myriad chassis selections and carrier variants, is still selling like hotcakes all over the world, and the sequel is no lightweight (figuratively) either -- selling three million units in 55 days only seems to be rivaled by a company based out of Cupertino -- and for good reason. We gave the unlocked version high marks for its excellent performance, gorgeous display and top-of-the-line camera, so it was only natural that we'd spend the next four months wondering when we'd see the powerhouse make it Stateside.

Don't get us wrong -- we've seen our fair share of unlocked Galaxy S II devices proudly shown off in the US (most of them from our own editors, admittedly) because it's already available at full retail (roughly $650-700) from multiple vendors. However, the Samsung Epic 4G Touch is the first to be offered at a subsidized cost in return for a two-year commitment, and it won't be the last as AT&T and T-Mobile pull up the rear with their own styles of the same handset. So how does the landmark phone stand up to not only the test of time but several carrier-specific design changes? Are Sprint customers getting a "tainted" version of Sammy's flagship Android device? These questions have been pondered for months, and we finally have the answers if you keep on reading.

Continue reading Samsung Epic 4G Touch review

Samsung Epic 4G Touch review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 11:20 PM

drag2share: MasterCard demos Google Wallet, QkR platform for mobile payments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/mastercard-demos-google-wallet-qkr-platform-for-mobile-payments/

You've most likely heard plenty about NFC-capable smartphones, but little in the way of actual real-world uses for the chip. Well, MasterCard's looking to change all of that, and throw in a few innovations of its own courtesy of its in-house R&D labs and Google. Shown off at an event today, the company demoed the Google Wallet application we first learned about back in May -- which is gearing up for an official launch sometime "soon." Running on Sprint's Nexus S 4G -- with a planned expansion to multiple devices -- users can connect a Citi MasterCard account to the service, and tap-to-pay at any retail location outfitted with a PayPass station. The transactions take place as instantaneously as you'd expect, with spending alerts notated automatically in-app, as well as via text message. If you're the paranoid type or just a spendthrift, the app offers plenty of options to set spending limits, approve / block purchases via category (i.e. dining, entertainment) and enable alerts for overseas activity. Currently, the Google Wallet service is Android-only, and that's probably a direct result of the AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile backed mobile payment rival, ISIS.

But the company's also got one eye fixed squarely on the future -- scheming up alternate implementations for payment on-the-go through its MasterCard Labs division. Focusing on its QkR platform (an obvious play on QR codes), these concepts ranged from television audio signals encoded with purchase data, audible to a phone running the QkR app, or fast-food tabletops embedded with NFC and QR codes that'll allow customers to scan for coupons, order remotely and apply the discount -- all without leaving their seats. The most interesting use of the new platform, however, had nothing to do with mobile phone use and everything to do with an Xbox Kinect. Utilizing the gesture recognition tech, items could be selected on-screen by holding your hand over an item and navigating through the checkout process. We know, yet another great proof-of-concept, but tuck away that cynicism for a second -- a company representative confided to us that soft-pilot testing of QkR is already underway, with an official announcement slated in the next two weeks. And don't worry about it being a Google OS-only affair, QkR's been tested across iOS, Windows Phone Mango and even BlackBerry. Whether or not the innovative payment system'll launch with all of these mobile OS on-board wasn't clear, but we were assured there'd be at least two partners on board. Jump past the break to get a close-up view of our hands-on with the future of payment.

Continue reading MasterCard demos Google Wallet, QkR platform for mobile payments

MasterCard demos Google Wallet, QkR platform for mobile payments originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 11:19 PM

drag2share: PayPal to add mobile payment features, hopes to redefine how we shop (till we drop)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/15/paypal-to-add-mobile-payment-features-hopes-to-redefine-how-we/

Like the side ponytail craze of the '80s, the newest trend is turning out to be the mobile wallet -- especially as major players like Google, MasterCard, Verizon, Discover and now PayPal board the bandwagon. Our old buddy -- best known for its love affair with eBay (and ripping our own Darren Murph off a solid two large) -- has plans to implement new payment features primarily for (but not limited to) mobile. On the to-do list are things like QR / barcode scans, hyper local deals, fast checkout via NFC, etc. The company is adamant that it's not "just shoving a credit card on a phone," but rather planning to change the whole shopping experience. We'll know more when PayPal releases more details in early October, and when it launches the pilot product sometime later this year. Until then, check out the semi-cryptic video while brushing up on old episodes of SuperMarket Sweep after the break.

Continue reading PayPal to add mobile payment features, hopes to redefine how we shop (till we drop)

PayPal to add mobile payment features, hopes to redefine how we shop (till we drop) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 11:17 PM

drag2share: Archos' G9 Android Tablets Have Superfast Processors and... Hard Drives? [Android]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5840543/archos-g9-tablets-have-super+fast-processors-and-big-ass-harddrives

Archos' G9 Android Tablets Have Superfast Processors and... Hard Drives?Archos Android tablets. Typically considered also-rans, but these things do have a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and up to 250GB harddrives.

The 10-inch G9 "Turbo" is packing Texas Instruments 1.5 GHz dual-core OMAP 4 processor, and Archos claims that will make page loading 50 percent faster than competitors tablets (which typically run 1GHz dual-core Nvidia processors). I cannot wait to find out if that's actually true. The 8-inch model also use a dual-core TI OMAP 4, but it will only be clocked to 1GHz.

The biggest point of differentiation is that these guys have the option of gargantuan 250GB harddrives from Seagate. While that's eight times more storage than the more common 32GB tabs, something important to keep in mind is that this isn't SSD, it's a regular old spinning harddrive. Spinning harddrives are bigger, heavier, more fragile, and way more energy-hungry. Not only that, they're slower. Will the spinning harddrive totally hamstring the superfast processor? (To be clear, both tablets come standard with 16GB of flash memory. These larger options are optional with additional cost.) Archos claims that these Seagate drives' special "4GB flash caching system" will make it just as fast as flash. Right. They also note that these drives will spin up only when in use, so it's likely that these tablets contain enough flash storage to run the OS and probably all of your apps, and the 250GB would just be used for storing media.

Archos' G9 Android Tablets Have Superfast Processors and... Hard Drives?The G9 80 has an 8-inch, 1024 x 768 4:3 screen, similar to the iPad, aiming more at e-book readers. The G9 101 has a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 16:10 screen, similar to other widescreen Android tablets, emphasizing video and multimedia. Both tablets have enhanced video players (more codecs for you sneaky torrenters) and HDMI out, and you should be able to cram 50 hours of 1080p video onto those harddrives. They're both Wi-Fi but they have full-sized USB ports (which I love), so you may be able to attach a wireless dongle, maybe. They both run Android 3.2 Honeycomb without any kind of skin.

These suckers are starting at $299 for the eight-incher and $399 for the tenner. Options are the 16GB solid state vs. the 250GB HD, and you can chose to upgrade to a 1.5GHz processor in the 8-inch model, too (see price breakdown below). My biggest reservation is the spinning harddrive they've put in these things. While that kind of capacity is neat, do we really need it in a tablet? Further, tablets are portable devices and most standard harddrives don't like to be moved while they're spinning, plus there's heat and energy consumption to think about. Regardless, I like seeing manufacturers differentiating themselves by their hardware, and not by putting a crappy overlay over Android. They will both be available in late September.

Updated pricing breakdown:
• ARCHOS 80 G9 8GB – 1 GHZ at $299
• ARCHOS 80 G9 16GB - 1.5 GHz at $329
• ARCHOS 80 G9 250GB – 1.5 GHz at $369
• ARCHOS 101 G9 16GB – 1.5 GHz at $399
• ARCHOS 101 G9 250GB – 1.5 GHz at $469

You can keep up with Brent Rose, the author of this post, on Google+ or Twitter.

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Posted by Augustine at 3:45 PM

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