Lenny Bruce. George Carlin. The giants of big-idea comedy. Bill Hicks? His name is right up there with them, but most people haven't heard of him. Part comedian, part philosopher, part preacher, his stand-up stood in a class by itself. More »

Here are the three cities of Sunday's Super Bowl as seen from space: New York City (Giants), Greater Boston area (Patriots), and the host city, Indianapolis, Indiana. The high definition images were captured by NASA's Landsat 7. More »

The latest figures are in from IDC: the top three global smartphone makers are Nokia, Samsung and Apple, in that order. Drilling down into the figures finds some surprises: Cupertino's third-place with only 8.7 percent of the market, while the giants of Korea and Finland are duking it out with 22.8 percent and 26.6 respectively. LG and ZTE are tied for fourth, but that's hardly good news for Goldstar, given that it's lost a staggering 42.2 percent of its market share in the last twelve months (Nokia was the other loser, eating 8.2 percent). The cause for the drop is in part the world's rejection of feature-phones (dropped faster than fashionistas rightly abandoned Ugg Boots and Jeggings) as millions upgraded to smartphones. After the break we've got the tables in full for anyone who wants to have their mind blown at the sheer quantity of handsets shipped in the last year, both financial and calendar.

Continue reading IDC: Nokia, Samsung, Apple are the new top 3 handset makers

IDC: Nokia, Samsung, Apple are the new top 3 handset makers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When you think of Super Bowl Sunday, many images likely come to mind: malty beverages, nachos, high-budget commercials and -- oh, yeah -- football. Even amongst us mobile fanatics, however, cellular coverage rarely crosses the mind. Fortunately, that's not how Big Red rolls. The company has brought three of its LTE cell-on-wheels rigs to Indianapolis in anticipation of the Big Game, which is expected to draw 85,000 attendees. Amongst other things, Lucas Oil Stadium is now wired to the teeth with $69 million in Verizon gear to ensure that all subscribers will be able to tweet along with each touchdown, fumble and botched call -- like the Giants / Packers game, for instance. In addition to the COWs, the equipment includes 400 mobile antennas inside the stadium to carry voice and data, along with 600 WiFi stations to support a total of 28,000 simultaneous connections. The folks at GottaBeMobile have an excellent spread of how all this came together, but if you're more of the visual type, you'll find a quick video after the break.

[Thanks, Josh]

Continue reading Three COWs descend on Lucas Oil Stadium, courtesy of Verizon Wireless (video)

Three COWs descend on Lucas Oil Stadium, courtesy of Verizon Wireless (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not content with dominating the HDTV market, Vizio revealed on Friday plans to turn the PC business on its ear with a series of sleek, Apple-inspired All-in-One and Notebook PC's. More »

Not content with dominating the HDTV market, Vizio revealed on Friday plans to turn the PC business on its ear with a series of sleek, Apple-inspired All-in-One and Notebook PC's. More »

Alibaba to launch English version of Aliyun OS this month, tablet by November originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Sep 2011 17:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Companies like Apple and Google are doing their best to put together music products that compete directly with Spotify’s Web-based music streaming product. While reports suggest record labels are making the process as difficult as possible for these giants, Spotify just took the fight to their home turf. The company on Wednesday launched a new music download service that attempts to make Spotify “the only music player you’ll ever need.” Spotify users can now purchase and download full playlists comprised of any songs from the company’s 9 million-track catalog for as low as £0.50 per song. And as an extra little slap, Spotify’s new feature allows playlists to be synchronized with the iPod classic, iPod nano or iPod shuffle right from within the Spotify desktop app. Spotify still isn’t available in the U.S., but rumors suggest the company is closer than ever to striking deals with record companies that will allow it to launch its popular service stateside. Hit the break for the full press release and a video that explains the company’s new download service.

Spotify says hello to the iPod

May 4th, 2011

At Spotify it’s always been our mission to provide you with the best all-round music experience on the planet. For Spotify Premium subscribers, a huge part of that experience is taking your playlists with you wherever you go. However, for the rest of our users, listening to their favourite playlists on the move hasn’t been possible.

You’ve been telling us how much you love discovering, sharing and talking about music in Spotify – and you’ve created well over 200 million playlists to prove it. But you’ve also said you’re listening to a huge amount of music on your iPods, and that getting your Spotify playlists onto them as MP3s has been a serious hassle, forcing you to juggle multiple music players. That’s until now…

As of today, Spotify is making it possible for everyone to take their playlists with them in one lean, green music machine.

New features include:

Manage your iPod in Spotify! For the first time, seamlessly manage any iPod classic, iPod nano and iPod shuffle in Spotify. Simply connect your iPod to your computer via your USB cable and watch it magically appear in the new ‘Devices’ section of your Spotify sidebar.
Sync all the MP3s contained in your Spotify playlists to your iPod, and purchase the rest through…

The all-new Spotify download service! Listening to the music you want to hear, wherever you want it, just got a whole lot simpler – and cheaper.
Your playlists are special to you. You’ve spent untold hours putting together your own mix-tape masterpieces on your computer and want to take them with you, but without the trouble of having to buy each track separately, switching music players or breaking the bank? Then look no further.

Spotify’s new MP3 download service makes it possible to own your playlists in one easy step. By introducing a range of MP3 bundles, we’ve been able to offer you some of the most competitive prices available – from as little as 60 cents per song.

Spotify Mobile app now available to all! iPod integration was your biggest request, but there are also a lot of Spotify Free users out there who are iPhone and Android phone owners. You asked for the ability to buy your MP3 playlists and sync to your phones. So we’ve got you covered too…

As of today, everyone can download the Spotify Mobile iPhone & Android apps to wirelessly sync your MP3 playlists in Spotify from your computer to your phone. Fire up your mobile app and see your phone appear in the ‘Devices’ section of the Spotify sidebar, ready to rock and roll. No cables required! And did we mention it’s now possible to wirelessly sync these playlists to your iPod touch?

Now everyone can own their favourite Spotify playlists to take wherever they want. Heading out for a run or off on a trip? Buying the songs you want to hear has never been quicker, easier or more affordable.

All new features will begin being rolled out to all users from today as part of an automatic update. Be sure to give us a spin!

Daniel Ek, CEO & Founder of Spotify, says: “From today, Spotify really is the only music player you’ll ever need. Our users don’t want to have to switch between music players, but they do want to take their playlists with them wherever they go, on a wider range of devices, more simply and at a price they can afford. Now we’ve made that possible on one of the world’s most popular consumer devices.”

Gustav Söderström, Chief Product Officer at Spotify, adds: “Accessing music on your mobile phone is the future, but today that makes up a pretty small percentage of music fans. We want to open up the Spotify experience to as many people as possible, and in a way where they can get exactly the music they want at a great price. Check it out – we really hope you like it.”

Continue reading uSolo FX Media player review

uSolo FX Media player review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some days our dream of being able to watch anything, anywhere, anytime, and on any screen seems like it'll never happen, but other days are like today. Yes, today every major studio, except Disney, announced that it would start distributing movies that will work with any UltraViolet devices, software or services. We learned on the Engadget HD podcast that this means that if you buy a movie one way (DVD, VOD, hotel PPV, whatever) you can view it on just about any other without paying again. PC software and updates for existing devices are expected to start rolling out later this year -- so much for launching in 2010 -- but we'll have to wait for CES next year to learn about all our gadgets that can't, or won't, be updated. Of course the dream will only come true if everyone and everything agrees to play, and while we're a long way away from finding out if our media consumption fantasy will ever come true, the list of 60 companies that have already pledged their allegiance is a who's who among media and electronics giants.

Continue reading Six major studios to distribute UltraViolet titles by mid year, hardware to come later

Six major studios to distribute UltraViolet titles by mid year, hardware to come later originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did the world's tech giants just discover they have lawyers on retainer? That's certainly how it seems, as company after company has decided 'tis the season to target the competition with patent infringement allegations. Sony, the latest, is aiming squarely at LG, claiming that the Korean manufacturer's violating eight patents with its mobile devices -- including the LG Fathom, Xenon, Neon, Remarq, Rumor 2, Lotus Elite and VL600 LTE modem -- claiming that these devices transmit variable-bandwidth audio streams, live-preview camera snapshots, hand off cellular calls and more in ways that infringe Sony's intellectual property. Sony's now filed both an ITC complaint in an attempt to ban new product shipments from the US, and a lawsuit in federal court that will no doubt seek monetary damages. Now, if recent history is any indication, LG will turn around and smack Sony with a patent stack of its own, and we'll all go back to dreaming about LG devices we'd actually care to purchase.

Sony files ITC complaint about LG, adds another patent infringement lawsuit to the stack originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There's no need to tell you that a lot was (and still is, in a way) riding on Nokia's N8. It was said to be the outfit's first dead-serious smartphone to rival the giants of today, and it was also Nokia's first chance to truly reveal Symbian^3 to the world. We've already churned out our two pennies on the matter, but for those of you who bought in, now's the time to get really real. Are you satisfied with where Nokia's going with the N8? Do you seriously see a long and lively future when looking at Symbian^3? If someone (read: UPS) accidentally delivered the keys to the Finnish kingdom to you, how would you go about tweaking and / or reshaping the N8? Would you have selected a different operating system? Added a few more hardware buttons? Thrown in a different processor? Made it available on your carrier of choice? Let us know down in comments below, and keep it sensible -- it's Christmas Eve and all.

How would you change Nokia's N8? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TechCrunch is reporting that social networking giant Facebook will publicly unveil its “Project Titan” — a web-based email client — to the world at a media event scheduled for Monday, November 15th. The report cites anonymous sources and alleges that the email service will bring @facebook.com email addresses to its users. Irrelevant, but fun and sensational, TechCrunch goes on to write that Project Titan is referred to internally at Facebook as the “Gmail killer.”

Recently, both Google and Facebook have appeared in headlines together as Google now posts the below warning message to its users who try to access Facebook’s Gmail friend-importer. Sounds like things are getting a little icy between the two data-mining giants.

Foxconn finds itself in more hot water Wednesday as new reports emerge concerning working conditions at a factory operated by sister company Foxteq. Workers at the packing plant, located in Rydalmere, Australia, have come forward with allegations of exploitation and poor working conditions. Some went as far as to describe conditions at the plant as “depression-era,” with employees required to work long hours and no guarantee that they would be asked to return the next day. Foxteq performs packing services for HP, IBM and other large companies, and is currently being investigated by several of its clients as a result of the accusations. Sister company Foxconn, which manufactures electronics for giants like Apple and HP, fell under the microscope earlier this year when a string of employee suicides took place on the company’s campus. The suicides were blamed on poor working conditions and low wages.

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Following news that the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS would become available at Target stores on November 7th, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that Apple’s iPad will soon be available at all Best Buy Mobile locations. Apple continues to widen its net ahead of the 2010 holiday season, pushing popular products like the iPad and iPhone to as many new distributors as possible. Just last week, Apple added cellular giants Verizon Wireless and AT&T to its list of iPad vendors. Now, 158 stand-alone Best Buy Mobile locations will offer the popular iOS tablet by Thanksgiving. This is of course in addition to Best Buy’s standard retail locations, which have been selling the iPad since it launched this past April. Apple has already sold over 4 million iPads and with supply finally catching up to demand, the popular tablet is certain to be a hot item during the holiday season.

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Sprint's riffed about the possibility of migrating to LTE in the past -- as has its 4G partner, Clearwire -- so it's no big surprise to hear CEO Dan Hesse tell the Financial Times today that he's still open to the idea down the road, possibly side-by-side with the company's existing WiMAX deployment thanks to its deep spectrum holdings. What's far more interesting, though, is his concession that there's "logic" to exploring a merger with T-Mobile USA in the event that they both move to LTE for their next-gen networks. For its part, T-Mobile hasn't announced its 4G plans yet, but it's an open secret than Deutsche Telekom has explored the idea of selling off its US outpost in the past. Combined, it seems that Sprint and T-Mobile -- neither of whom have the firepower to compete with giants AT&T or Verizon on every level -- would create a strong third-place carrier capable of nipping at their heels. FT says that the idea of a Sprint deal was rejected back in 2008 on grounds that the two have incompatible networks, so who knows... if that restriction were removed, there might yet be love in the air.

Sprint's Hesse: there's 'logic' to a T-Mobile merger -- if they both move to LTE originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has a 22-page document which outlines how they store all your private data in their online servers. The document also tells government agencies how they can get it. But, oh surprise, they don't want you to see it:

Microsoft Spy

The document was unearthed by Cryptome, the site who previously unveiled similar papers by Facebook, Skype, and other online giants. When Microsoft learned about it, they sent their rabid law dogs to tear Cryptome apart, Digital Millennium Copyright Act in one hand, iron bar in the other. So far they have managed to coerce Cryptome's host company to take down the site the pages aren't taken down. Network Solutions complied with Microsoft's barking, passing along the message to Cryptome that, if they don't take down the "secret" material, they would take down the whole site.

Obviously, Microsoft and Network Solutions don't give a damn about public interest. Make no mistake: Knowing what Microsoft can disclose and how, no matter if you are a criminal or just some innocent dude using Microsoft's services, should interest you. [Microsoft Spy via Business Insider]