Galaxy S II, 604.99€ su Expansys.it!

 

Arrivano importanti novità per quanto riguarda il prezzo “semiufficiale” dell’ultimo prodotto della casa coreana, il Samsung Galaxy S II. Un device dalle ormai note qualità tecniche che si appresta ad arrivare sul mercato nei prossimi mesi, ad un prezzo, come vedete dall’immagine, che si aggira attorno ai 600€! Dunque, ulteriori conferme su quello che ipotizzammo alla sua presentazione, ovvero i  ”classici ” 599€, confermati più volte in articoli precedenti e nel sondaggio di fine Febbraio. Ulteriori informazioni sul sito Expansys.It ,dal quale, è possibile effettuare anche il preordine!

Il nuovo iPad 2: ecco i video parodia!

Sono passate poche ore dalla presentazione ufficiale dell’iPad 2, ma sul web possiamo già trovare alcuni video parodia. I ragazzi di iPhoneParodia, bravissimi come sempre, hanno rielaborato i video ufficiali di Apple, rendendoli divertenti e di buono spirito. Nel primo video viene riproposto l’ormai noto “cik ciak” durante l’utilizzo della nuova Smart Cover. Il secondo video, che trovate anch’esso a seguire, mostra sotto un nuovo e simpatico punto di vista la creazione dell’iPad 2, l’idea di inserire due fotocamere (“l’iPad 3 ne avrà 3, l’iPad 4 quattro” cit.) e di farlo più sottile.

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace returns to theaters in 3D February 12, 2012 (Video)

It’s time to mark your calendar Star Wars fans, whether you plan to be first in line to check out the new 3D-converted editions of each movie, protest their rerelease in a new format or just avoid the theater altogether now that The Phantom Menace has officially been slated to return next year on February 12th. The effects guys at Fox, Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic reckon the immersive visuals of each flick lend themselves to being viewed in 3D and the yearly releases of the movies should be good test of both whether a 3D conversion really is worthwhile and if audiences are interested in paying to watch it. Of course, there’s also the alternative of just grabbing the Blu-ray discs (original trilogy only, if you so desire) skimming the Red Letter Media review and calling it a day, but we won’t get pushy.

VIA says Eden X2 is world's most power-efficient dual-core processor

Following close behind the low-power Nano X2 comes the Eden X2, or what VIA is calling “the world’s most power-efficient” fanless dual-core processor. While we’ve yet to see any official numbers, the original Eden did 500MHz on one watt of power, so we should see similarly thrifty specs here. Aside from that, the unit houses two 64-bit cores in a 21 x 21 millimeter package, is compatible with Windows CE and Linux operating systems, and was built using a 40-nanometer manufacturing process. The Eden X2 made its debut at the World Embedded conference this week, and should make it to the real world by the end of Q2. Full PR after the break.

Laptops, Software New Chrome OS update finally fixes the Cr-48's touchpad issues

Google’s Chrome OS, and thus the Cr-48, has seen a lot of updates and big fixes since we took a hard look at it back in December, but the wonky touchpad, which we seriously struggled with, hasn’t exactly seen much love. That is, until today. The most recent Chrome OS update, which now brings it to version 0.10.156.46, includes new “trackpad and sensitivity settings,” and it definitely makes a world of difference. We updated ours just a couple of moments ago and lots of the issues — namely the jumpy cursor and the flaky scrolling — have been mended. Thanks to the fresh software, we had a much easier time highlighting text and scrolling down the length of this very website. That said, the touchpad still isn’t as responsive as what you get with Apple’s MacBooks or Synaptics ClickPad Series 3, and that’s because the physical hardware is based on Synaptics’ older generation profile sensing technology rather than its newer image sensing panel. Either way, the new software update makes the Cr-48 a lot less frustrating to navigate. Google’s also rolled in some new power optimizations, screen indicators, and GChat improvements — go on and try it out for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments.

WiFi-only Motorola Xoom appears at Sam's Club, bearing $539 price?

You might have seen Motorola’s WiFi-only Xoom popping up at European e-tailers, but it’s reportedly flying the red, white and blue today, having materialized at Sam’s Club in the good ol’ USA. Droid-Life stumbled upon several snapshots of these Xoom Wi-Fi vouchers, with a $539 price tag hanging above their heads — plenty cheaper than a cellular Xoom, and also slightly more affordable than a similarly specced iPad 2. Of course, Sam’s Club deals in wholesale merchandise, and even should this price be accurate the tablet may not be widely available at the same rate, so don’t count out $599 as the Xoom Wi-Fi’s MSRP. Meanwhile, let us know if you manage to find and ring one up at the register, eh?

Google's self-driving cars take TED attendees for a wild ride (Video)

Google gave folks a brief glimpse at its super secret self-driving cars last fall, but nothing like what it’s just showed off at the TED conference that’s happening this week in Long Beach, California. The company is not only actually letting attendees inside the autonomous car for a first-hand demonstration, but it’s intentionally stepped things up to an “aggressive” level to show just how capable the car really is — we’re talking squealing tires and really tight cornering (all on a closed course, naturally). Head on past the break for a view from both inside and outside of the car courtesy of Search Engine Land.

Samsung's Exynos 4210 flexes 3D gaming muscle at GDC 2011 (video)

 

What might Android gaming look like on a Samsung Galaxy S II? You’re staring it in the face right now. We spotted Samsung’s Orion / Exynos 4210 at GDC 2011, showing off the power of its dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 CPU and Mali-400 graphics on a nice big 1080p television screen — with a completely playable asteroid obstacle course that ran at a butter-smooth 60 frames per second in stereoscopic 3D. ARM representatives told us the chip actually has even more headroom, but was actually constrained by its HDMI 1.3 port, and could push stereoscopic content at up to 70fps if their reference board had HDMI 1.4. When we asked if there were any plans to publish the TrueForce space shooter demo, ARM said it might indeed be done; the company’s thinking of releasing it on the Android Market as a benchmark of sorts.

ASUS U36Jc review

At this point, it feels like almost every laptop under the sun is being described as “thin and light,” but the thinnest and lightest with a standard voltage processor? Well, that’s a new distinction, and ASUS claims its 13.3-inch U36Jc is just that. The .76-inch thick chassis tips the scales to just 3.7-pounds, but doesn’t skimp on the horsepower or battery life to attain those trim dimensions like some other ultrathin systems out there. Sure, the U36Jc may ditch the optical drive, but it packs a Core i5-460M processor (the “older” Nehalem generation), NVIDIA GeForce 310M graphics, 4GB of RAM, a USB 3.0 port, and a 500GB, 7200rpm hard drive for just $969. Okay, so it doesn’t have Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge processors, but there are plenty of other reasons we think those who are looking for an ultraportable for under a grand may want to consider the U36Jc. Hit the break to find out what those things are exactly in our full review.

Sony's PSP Go officially drops to $150

It may not be the first time you’ve been able to snag a PSP Go for $150, but you can now rest assured that you’ll never pay anything more than that, as Sony has officially knocked another $50 off the handheld’s list price. That follows a similar $50 price drop back in October (not to mention a $40 price cut to the regular PSP just last week), although that doesn’t seem to have done a whole lot to boost sales of the download-only device. Will this new low, low price make a bigger difference? And, if not, how much lower can it go before a certain quad-core monster really makes its presence felt?

 

Fogale Nanotech takes the 'touch' out of 'touchscreen smartphone' at CeBIT (Video)

French sensor manufacturer Fogale Nanotech — historically more of an industrial supplier than a consumer-facing one — was demonstrating its non-contact capacitive sensors at CeBIT this week and how they might be used for the most consumer-facing application of them all: smartphone interfaces. Fogale had two stations set up, PCs running Windows Phone 7 emulators with the sensors attached out front (oriented like you might place a trackpad on a desk). Though they didn’t have any actual phone prototypes on hand with the technology integrated, it’s clear that they’re trying to drum up support with a manufacturer partner or two; in the meantime, you can get a sense of what’s going on by waving your hand over the phone-shaped sensors at the stations. We found that as long as you’re within about half inch of the pad, the on-screen cursor flys by in perfect harmony with your finger. Of course, there are plenty of unanswered questions here: deciding on the best user experience for actuating taps is key… but perhaps more importantly, we’re not certain that you need your hand waving slightly above your phone while using it anyway. Don’t get us wrong, it’s super cool — but are you really that worked up over smudges? Follow the break for a quick video of Fogale’s recorded demos plus some time at the live kiosk.

Galaxy Indulge microSDHC card regularly reports back to MetroPCS (but hey, you get Iron Man 2 for free!)

If you’re the kind of person who buys phones based on Hollywood tie-in deals (and for your sake, we hope you’re not) you’ll be pleased to know that the Samsung Galaxy Indulge comes pre-loaded with Iron Man 2. That’s right, a sequel to a movie you only ever saw half of, once, while it was on the TV over the bar at Armand’s on Liberty Ave. (assuming that you’re a certain Engadget editor, and for your sake we hope you’re not) is coming pre-loaded on the world’s first Android-packing, LTE smartphone. And if that wasn’t enough, the SanDisk microSDHC card that the movie is stored on regularly reports back to MetroPCS with usage statistics:

This intelligent SanDisk mobile memory card provides specific, real-time network data to MetroPCS to measure customer interest in digital content. Details of aggregated, anonymous consumer usage will allow MetroPCS to determine the impact of its movie offering, which in turn allows them to provide customers with more customized content and services in the future.

We’re sure everything is on the up-and-up here, but for some reason we don’t think most consumers will be comfortable with storage that reports regularly to a carrier — for any reason. Still, things could be much worse: you could be stuck with the pre-loaded Iron Man app on an LG Ally.

Jam guitar input for Mac and iOS devices gets your axe into GarageBand

Hello Cleveland! Or, you know, wherever you are. Are you ready to rock? No? Oh, well, maybe just a little jam session, then? Apogee Electronics (no, not the company that brought you all those Duke Nukem releases back in the day) has announced the new Jam device, which enables a digital connection for electric and bass guitars into iOS 4.2.1 (and greater) devices or into any Core Audio compatible apps on Mac. You can record straight into GarageBand if you like and use the built-in control knob to adjust your levels. That connectivity won’t come for free, naturally, with a $99 MSRP slapped on this one. It’ll start rocking stores in March — plenty enough time to find another new drummer.

Jam

 

Intel Core i7-990X reviewed: best performance ever, but far from best value

As T-Pain once so wisely proclaimed, “it ain’t hardcore unless it’s hexacore.” Intel should have no worries with its Core i7-990X, which has enough processing units to satisfy even the most demanding of hip hop moguls, but it pads out its extreme credentials anyway with an audacious 3.46GHz default speed. That can be Turbo Boosted to 3.73GHz (yes, we are talking about a CPU that can run at 3,730MHz right out of the box) and there’s 12MB of L3 cache and three channels for DDR3 memory to justify the $999 price tag. Well, to partially justify it, anyhow. Tech Report and Tom’s Hardware both ran this new chip through their benchmarking suites and both concluded it’s the fastest consumer processor around, but neither was willing to recommend it as a terribly astute purchase decision. Then again, when has an Extreme Edition of anything ever been a good value proposition?