We've already seen Firefox move to a more rapid release schedule, and it looks like we'll soon also see far less emphasis placed on those rapidly increasing version numbers (much like Google has already done with Chrome). That's one detail revealed by Mozilla in a blog post today, which recaps its activity in 2011 and outlines some of its goals for 2012. That includes silent updates in the background to counter what Mozilla calls "update fatigue," as well as a number of efforts to make web apps more integrated into Firefox (and complement the Mozilla Marketplace). More on that and some additional technical details can be found at the source link below.

Mozilla outlines plans for Firefox in 2012: less emphasis on version numbers, more focus on user experience originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new iPhone app called Highlight is poised to be this year's breakout hit at South by Southwest, the Austin tech and media conference that has become known as a web service kingmaker after launching services like Twitter and Foursquare to a wide audience in years past. In the context of a major tech conference, Highlight makes an appealing promise: let it run in the background of your phone, persistently collecting your location data, and it will notify you when your friends, their friends, or people with shared interests are nearby. Highlight is only the most prominent in a collection of apps offering this sort of "ambient social networking." More »

The Transformers: Dark of the Moon Blu-ray doesn't hit the streets officially until next week, but you can get a look at one of the special features early right here. In this video clip director Michael Bay and other members of the production team explain some of the special challenges that came with shooting the special-effects heavy movie in 3D. It required changes to his usual frenetic cutting style with fewer pans and longer shots, as well as extra work by the editors on each element of animation overlaid on each frame. For a longer discussion about the background of shooting the flick you can check out an interview featuring Bay and 3D-master James Cameron here, otherwise just press play, or check out the press release after the break for a full list of special features included when he disc debuts January 31st.

Continue reading Transformers: Dark of the Moon clip breaks down shooting movies, special effects in 3D (video)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon clip breaks down shooting movies, special effects in 3D (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC on Friday responded to user allegations that at least two of its smartphones, the HTC Sensation and the HTC EVO 3D, spy on users. BGR reported on Thursday that a new Android software update issued to these two handsets included tweaks that cause the OS to log users’ behavior. As discovered by InfectedROM forum member TrevE, Carrier IQ and four other processes in Android 2.3.4 purportedly gather usage stats and transmit them in the background. HTC has confirmed to BGR that these functions are all tied to an opt-in service however, and the Taiwan-based firm says it is not spying on anyone. Read on for more.

HTC confirmed to BGR that all of the data collected by the devices in question is encrypted, and any identifying data is stripped prior to transmission. Moreover, the vendor insists that the data collected by the processes in question is only sent to HTC if the user has previously opted in to an error reporting feature. “HTC, like most manufacturers, has an opt-in error reporting function built in to our devices,” an HTC spokesperson said in a statement delivered to BGR via email. “If your phone experiences an error, you have the option of ‘Telling HTC’ so we can make improvements to our phones. Details about this are in our privacy policy on each device and in order for data to be collected, you have to opt-in. If you do opt-in, we protect your privacy by de-identifying and encrypting the data.”

The statement goes on to reassure users that any data that might be transmitted with regard to the processes discovered on InfectedROM is tied to opt-in functions. The company also notes that none of the data is used to spy on users, but rather to investigate crashes and other unexpected errors. “HTC is committed to protecting your privacy and that means a commitment to clear opt-in/opt-out as the standard for collecting any information we need to serve you better,” HTC said in its statement.

Remember Google Latitude — Google’s location-based social network that allows users to easily share their locations with friends? Yeah, neither did we… at least not until Google’s new iOS app popped up over the weekend. Google Latitude is half-baked at best, though we imagine once Google launches a social network that doesn’t flop, Latitude will probably be folded in to add the LBS element. For the time being, all the service really does is share your location with friends (and Google’s data bank). No added value, no special features — just location sharing. The app supports background updating as well, so if you’d like to trade battery life for the ability to be stalked with alarming accuracy, Latitude is good for that as well. Google Latitude for iOS is available immediately in the App Store, and is compatible with the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad and iPod touch (third and fourth generations).

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My background is writing partially thought-out gadget blog posts, so you'll forgive me this brief moment of juvenile amazement:Holy cow surgeons have the craziest tools! Is the SPIDER something you surgeons out there are regularly playing god with, or what? More »

While a new update to the Yahoo Messenger app on the iPhone would be eventful in and of itself, the latest version brings a very special gift — video calling over 3G, and not just phone to phone, but phone to computer or vice versa. Unfortunately in our quick tests, video calling seems to be buggy, not reliable, and above all, pretty low in the quality department when we do manage to get it working. In addition to video calls, the newly updated Yahoo Messenger brings free voice calls to other Yahoo Messenger friends, supports background multitasking, and more. Let us know if you’re feeling the new update, though we’ll be waiting for real FaceTime calling over 3G.

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You can call it the Shadow, you can call it the Droid EXTREME, and you can even call it the DROID XTREME, but we say it should simply referred to as what it really is: sexy. Two new images of the Motorola MB810 have leaked out via Droid Life. According to their tipster who sent in the photos, the phone runs Android 2.2 aka Froyo and has 9 user customizable homescreens. The device is said to feel “very metal” and comes with a questionably located dedicated camera button. MOTOBLUR is claimed to be absent, but then we know this is unlikely true considering that wnrussell, the HoFo user that gave us our first look at the device, claims it runs in the background. Click the more button to check out an additional pic.

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Continue reading MIT researchers develop the most fabulous gesture control technique yet

MIT researchers develop the most fabulous gesture control technique yet originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 May 2010 22:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We're not used to thinking of Iomega as a software company, but with EMC -- the maker of VMWare -- in the background now, some sort of synergy was bound to happen. Iomega's new v.Clone software is the result, and it sounds pretty great. Basically it backs up your C: drive into a bootable, standalone app-wrapped VMWare image, which can run off of a compatible Iomega drive (new eGo and Prestige lines, for starters) on any other Windows computer. Any changes you make to your system in VM mode will then be synced back to your main machine when you return. We're guessing there will be some performance implications to the setup, and it'll take some using to know just how practical this might be, but it presents an intriguing opportunity for people to untether from their increasingly bulky, store everything desklaptops if it works -- and their friends don't mind them jacking in.

Iomega v.Clone turns your whole computer into a portable, bootable VMWare image originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's a great divide. Many of our readers watched as video games were born and developed to this day. Others never knew a world without friends lists and Live accounts. Regardless of your background, this timeline will catch you up.

(Click image for full-size pop-out.)

Some notables are missing, from 3DO to the Jaguar to even the infamous Virtual Boy. But you should gain some perspective all the same while we wait for the inevitable Failed Video Game Timeline follow-up. [Online Education via GoNintendo]

The above is just one of many Google Phone tweets that made the rounds yesterday. Unless this is some giant Twitter prank, looks like Google is handing these things out to employees. And they're talking.

Assuming this isn't some sort of coordinated Twitter joke (trust me, it happens), here are the details we can extract:

• It's running Android 2.1 on HTC hardware
• It should be coming out in January
• Employees were given unlocked versions
• "It's beautiful," "a sexy beast."

No one grabbed any concrete hardware details, but hopefully those are the next to come around. Great White Snark elaborated on his original tweet in the comments over at TechCrunch:

Yeah, it's a hot, sexy mess. And I mean that in a good way. Similar form-factor to the iPhone, but with a smooth-brushed-metal-looking shell instead of a glossy one. And perhaps a smidgen lighter.

Super fast, speech-to-text in EVERY app, awesome "live wallpapers" in the background that respond to touch in really beautiful ways. Like water ripples that emanate out from a touch.

Confirmation, or mass hysteria? Whatever it is, we'll be on the lookout for more details. [TechCrunch]

Well that's that, apparently. Although this story has evolved quite a bit over the day, according to Peter Kafka over at All Things Digital, Apple has indeed coughed up the dough for music streaming service Lala. If you believe what you read in the report (and you probably can, Kafka tends to be a straight shooter), Apple's snapping up the company for what will amount to a bargain-basement price... possibly less than $.50 on the dollar. However, Kafka says at least one source claims his valuation of the deal is off, but we'll have to wait for some official word before we know for sure. If this turns out to all be true, the lingering question is still about Apple's reasoning behind the purchase -- is the company after a particular technology, or is there a service in the offing? Hopefully we'll know soon.

Note: If you want a little background on Lala, Ross Rubin has covered the service extensively in his Switched On column.

WSJ confirms Apple purchase of Lala originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don't be fooled by that background: this Menq EasyPC E790 is only using Windows CE 5.0 for the sake of this hands-on. The successor to the $89 E760 we saw last year still sports a Samsung ARM processor, bumps the 7-inch display's resolution to 800 x 480, and at least as far as this Techvideoblog video hands-on shows, can do a decent (albeit not great) job of handling DivX files, Skype, and browsing. There's a promise from the manufacturer that Android is coming sometime in the next month, but honestly, given what we've seen before, we'd be happy to stick with Windows CE. Of course, the big selling point here is the price, and that claimed $80 is quite the looker. Video after the break.

[Via SlashGear and Linux for Devices]

Read - Hands-on
Read - Product page

Continue reading Menq's $80 EasyPC E790 netbook runs Windows CE now, should run Android later (video)

Filed under: Laptops

Menq's $80 EasyPC E790 netbook runs Windows CE now, should run Android later (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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