Something big is coming March 23rd, and like a good used car salesman, SanDisk has rolled out an inflatable superhero in its honor. What could it be? We honestly have no idea. SanDisk has already introduced 64GB SDXC cards and the G3 SSD, condensed commercial FM into sugary syrup with slotRadio, and generally exploited NAND in every way imaginable. The company's not scheduled to introduce 128GB chips until 2011, and rewritable 3D flash is still years out. That said, SanDisk does have experience in the portable audio/video realm, and that notch on our wide, cape-wearing friend does look awfully familiar... Oh please, no, not another blasted tablet. We jest, of course, but what could a memory manufacturer possibly be planning that warrants such a teaser page?

[Thanks, Steve]

Something 'big' coming from SanDisk, complete with cape originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How many scientists does it take to properly install a lightbulb? When that lightbulb is an implant that stimulates retinal photoreceptors to restore one's sight, quite a few -- even if they disagree whether said implant should be placed on top of the retina (requiring glasses to supply power and video feed) or underneath, using photocells to channel natural sunlight. Now, a German firm dubbed Retina Implant has scored a big win for the subretinal solution with a three-millimeter, 1,500 pixel microchip that gives patients a 12 degree field of view. Conducting human trials with 11 patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, the company successfully performed operations on seven, with one even managing to distinguish between similar objects (knife, fork, spoon) and perform very basic reading. Though usual disclaimers apply -- the tech is still a long way off, it only works on folks who've slowly lost their vision, etc. -- this seems like a step in the right direction, and at least one man now knows which direction that is.

Subretinal implant successfully tested on humans, makes blind narrowly see originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The makers of Wrapsol Ultra adhesive film wanted to prove how well their product protects gadgets. So they took an innocent Nokia, wrapped it up like a sandwich, and dragged it behind a car at 35 miles per hour. Ouch. More »

HP has been working on flexible displays for some time now, but it looks like things are starting to get a bit more real. Not real as in actual products, mind you -- but real like a big, flexible display spotting out in the wild. Doing the honors for this one is Hardware.info, which not only snapped shot above, but captured some of the action on video (head on past the break for that). Interestingly, HP doesn't acutally see these panels being used in truly flexible or rollable displays -- the material itself would only survive being rolled up about a half dozen times -- but instead sees them mostly being used to make displays thinner and lighter.

[Thanks, Frank]

Continue reading HP flexible display unfurled on video

HP flexible display unfurled on video originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft's not going to allow HTC to cover Windows Phone 7 Series with its Sense UI overlay (which is going to be an interesting thing to watch in and of itself), but there's no question that the homegrown user interface has made a-many Windows Mobile phones look and feel a whole lot better than stock. Sense is also gaining traction in the Android realm, a sector where it's far more likely to either make a huge impact or be overlooked entirely. So, the question we're posing here today is this: if you were granted an HTC badge for a day, how would you change Sense? Are you satisfied with the quickness? Does anything simply get in the way? Any quirks that you just can't figure out? Any tweaks that you'd love to see made? We aren't always serious when we say that these companies are listening to you, but trust us when we say that design folks from HTC might just give your comments a once over. Here's your chance. Don't screw it up.

How would you change HTC's Sense? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We wanted to tell you what Spike Jonze's new web film I'm Here is all about, we really did, and not just because it reportedly has robots in it -- though that was certainly a major factor in the decision. But after we crossed the virtual street to the virtual box office, we were informed that there were no seats left in the virtual theater. Imagine that. So instead of providing our impressions here, we'll just give you the facts. I'm Here is sponsored by Absolut Vodka; I'm Here is a 30-minute love story about humanoids living in Los Angeles. I'm Here can be viewed alongside Facebook friends; I'm Here can only be seen by 5,000 viewers a day. I'm Here promises a "striking online cinema experience," and we were struck by just how lifelike waiting for tickets could be. And if you, too, can't get "in" to see it, I'm Here can satiate you slightly with a one-minute trailer after the break.

Continue reading Spike Jonze's free web film features robot love, vodka, long wait times

Spike Jonze's free web film features robot love, vodka, long wait times originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint had promised a first-quarter update for its Touch Pro2 way back in January, and sure enough, it's delivered the Windows Mobile 6.5 boost right on time. It might not have as much punch now that we know everything there is to know about Windows Phone 7 Series, of course, but it's still a pretty big deal -- the Touch Pro2 remains one of the best Microsoft-powered phones you can buy in the States, and unlike AT&T's Tilt2, it launched with that grubby old WinMo 6.1. It's available now, complete with Sense "enhancements" and a variety of bug fixes -- so if you've got one of these bad boys in your pocket, it seems like a must-grab.

Sprint's HTC Touch Pro2 gets official Windows Mobile 6.5 update originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh Palm. Just a little over a year ago your future seemed so bright, so renewed. You walked away from CES 2009 reborn, held aloft by a completely innovative new mobile operating system, a striking piece of hardware, and a feeling amongst the press and investors that you were back in the game and playing to win. Now, less than a year and a half later, you've nearly returned to the dark and desperate place you'd found yourself in at the end of 2008; a rapidly declining mindshare, the bottom falling out of your stock, and bad dips in phone sales. All of it is leaving you backed into a corner where the common perception now is that you've got to sell to survive at all. So what went wrong? How did such a promising launch lead to such a disappointing reality? And how can you wrestle your way back from the brink yet again? Is that even an option?

In 2007 the editors of Engadget penned an impassioned open letter to the company, pleading for many of the changes we eventually saw at Palm. This isn't a follow-up, but it's very much in the spirit. We're going to take a look at the missteps that put the company in its current spot, and talk about what we think can pull it back out. Palm, it's time for a little tough love... again.

Continue reading Palm: this is your survival guide

Palm: this is your survival guide originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android users will finally have an app to stream media from their SlingBoxes to their smartphones this summer. The app will allow for streaming over both Wi-Fi and 3G. There's no pricing information yet. [Android Community via Engadget] More »

Depending on who you speak to, the Incredible will be the next HTC phone to launch in the US. Or maybe it's the Supersonic. There was even talk that they may be one and the same. More »

Brace yourself, lovers of all things retro, because the Commodore 64 will raise from the dead in all its keyboard form factor glory. It will probably be based on the Cybernet ZPC-GX31, although I hope it looks like this: More »

Oh hey, the Kindle app for OS X is out. It's free, but you have to buy the books, of course. It doesn't have multitouch, like the Windows app, though. [Amazon via TUAW] More »

Blackberry's push notifications are now available to any developer who'd like to stick 'em in any Blackberry app. Since battery-friendly push is the best part of owning a Blackberry, this update sounds fantastic. More »

If data centers are the brains of an information company, then Google is one of the brainiest there is. Though always evolving, it is, fundamentally, in the business of knowing everything. Here are some of the ways it stays sharp. More »

Diane Birch is very very very cute. She's also a lovely singer. Her song Valentino is chirpy and sweet, and her music video—with its ghetto augmented reality—is quite ingenious. Watch it. You'll like it. Then, watch the how-to: More »

One day, you're going to die. And when you do, you online presence—like your social network profiles, your blog comments, and your web services—will serve as your very first memorial. Here's how it'll play out. More »

Rhapsody just released a little teaser video for the next version of its iPhone app (to be followed closely by its new Android app) that marks a major change for the service: You can now download songs instead of streaming. More »