Barnes & Noble pulls DC Comics from shelves over Kindle kerfuffle, risks Martian Manhunter's wrath

Frankly, we'd advise against crossing anyone given to costumed superheroics, but a policy is a policy. Book selling giant Barnes & Noble has begun pulling select DC Comics from store shelves this week, in response to a deal struck between the publisher and Amazon, which will make digital copies of a number of comics exclusively available through the online retailer for use with the forthcoming Kindle Fire. The move is part of Barnes & Noble's policy to remove physical books from its shelves if the available digital version of the text is not offered up to the company.

Engadget, Barnes & Noble pulls DC Comics from shelves over Kindle kerfuffle, risks Martian Manhunter's wrath

Mobile Miscellany: week of October 3, 2011

This week waspackedwith news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of October 3, 2011:The Pantech Hotshot featurephone (above left) launched on Verizon this week. It's a full 3.2-inch touchscreen with a 3.2 megapixel camera and video capture. It's offered for $100 with a two-year contract. [PhoneScoop]AT&T launched the Pantech Link II (above right) this week, a follow-up to the popular Quick Messaging Device.

Engadget, Mobile Miscellany: week of October 3, 2011

Samsung Stratosphere manual leaked

. We've seen the Samsung Stratosphere leaked before a few times in the past and it looks like Verizon is gearing up to launch the device. The user manual for the phone has leaked online thanks to the folks over at Droid-Life, and we now know everything there is to know about the phone. Here are the confirmed specs of the phone:.

Ubergizmo, Samsung Stratosphere manual leaked

Starbucks brews up free, two-click WiFi in the UK

If your work environment consists of coworkers constantly yelling "venti half-caf red eye" across the "office," then you'll be pleased to know that Starbucks has made it faster and easier to get online. By extending its free one-click two-click WiFi service to 650 stores in the UK, over caffeinated Brits will now be able to access gratis internet without having to sign up for a Starbucks Rewards card - a former requirement on the coffee conglomerate's BT Openzone network.

Engadget, Starbucks brews up free, two-click WiFi in the UK

Tweek on Nook Color

If you're the owner of a Nook Color e-book reader, then you will be pleased to know that a dedicated Twitter application has just been released for it, making a jab at the Twitter name by being known as Tweek. Developed by boutique software consultancy DIG in Tampa, it might not be the first app on the Nook Color that supports Twitter, but its claim to fame is this is the first dedicated Twitter app that was specially designed just for the Nook Color. To put it mildly, it lets you eat, breathe and sleep Twitter all day long. Tweet after tweet without fail, and will continue to do so until you uninstall it.

Ubergizmo, Tweek on Nook Color

Sony Reader WiFi review

Sony's timing could have been better with the Reader WiFi PRS-T1. The device, which was unveiled back at IFA in late August, is set to launch within a fortnight. In the intervening time, Amazon, the clear leader in the space, unveiled two new readers - the fourth-generation Kindle and the Kindle Touch. Sony's got a ways to go if it's going to become a dominant force in the e-reader market outside of its native Japan, alongside the Kindle and the Nook.










Engadget, Sony Reader WiFi review

Human vs. Lincoln MKT: Who is better at parallel parking?

Auto journalist Ezra Dyer has thrown down the parking gauntlet on the Lincoln MKT in a battle for ultimate supremacy. Dyer fancies himself a fairly skilled parallel parker, and wanted to test his mettle against the self-park feature on the MKT. Armed with a tape measure, a video camera and a healthy distrust of all things mechanical, man squared off against crossover. How'd it go. Dyer put up a healthy fight by managing to get the Lincoln closer to the curb than the vehicle's software could manage. Unfortunately, he was also slightly more askew in the spot than the self-park feature.



Autoblog, Human vs. Lincoln MKT: Who is better at parallel parking?

Sprint converts its CDMA network to LTE, plans 'aggressive rollout' to be completed by 2013

We knew more or less that an announcement of this sort was coming. Back in July, Dan Hesse had teased us face-to-face with the promise of a "great story this fall around 4G," and now the time to tell that tale has arrived. At its strategy event today, Sprint finally went public with plans to "simplify its network" by converting its CDMA 1900MHz holdings and LightSquared's 1600MHZ spectrum ("pending FCC approval") to LTE, an industry favorite. Helping the operator make that transition is the swath of 800MHz spectrum it reclaimed from the, now defunct, iDEN push-to-talk network - which had been a drain on the company's resources.

Engadget, Sprint converts its CDMA network to LTE, plans 'aggressive rollout' to be completed by 2013

Sprint to Aggressively Rollout LTE Over 1900MHz Spectrum Starting Mid-2012 Along With Capable Devices, Network Largely Complete by 2013

Sprint has just announced that they will be rolling out 4G LTE aggressively over their 1900MHz spectrum. I know people were hoping they'd shut down the iDEN network by now to make way for a new 4G network on that 800MHz spectrum but they won't complete the shutdown until mid-2013 when they've been able to migrate all their customers. We were hoping they'd launch LTE on their 800MHz spectrum but they note that they will work to get it up and going there after the iDEN migration is complete.
The good news is that Sprint's already working on this and are working to get things going in mid-2012. And when do they expect it all to end? Mid-2013.

Android Phone, Sprint to Aggressively Rollout LTE Over 1900MHz Spectrum Starting Mid-2012 Along With Capable Devices, Network Largely Complete by 2013

Motorola faces patent lawsuit from Intellectual Ventures

Here we go again with yet another patent infringement lawsuit, and this time Motorola seems to be the target. Patent licensing company, Intellectual Ventures, has filed a lawsuit against Motorola, claiming that the company had infringed upon six of their patents. The company currently owns about 35,000 patents and they claimed that they approached Motorola about licensing the patents back in January, but apparently Motorola had refused.

Ubergizmo, Motorola faces patent lawsuit from Intellectual Ventures

Android Overload: Samsung's 3rd Quarter Saved By Galaxy S 2 Sales, HTC Scribe Pen Half-Off At Best Buy and More

Greetings, late night and overseas Phandroids. It’s time for another episode of the Android Overload. For those of you that are still hungry for more Android/carrier/Google related news, we pooled all the stories we weren’t able to get to throughout our day and placed them here. For you to nibble, snack or gorge upon. Are any of you counting down the days until the Nexus Prime is announced? I know I am! Oct. 11th is the day!

HTC Scribe Pen now half off at Best Buy for $40 (still too expensive). [BestBuy]How long does it take to fix Google Maps? Fast than you think.

Android Phone, Android Overload: Samsung's 3rd Quarter Saved By Galaxy S 2 Sales, HTC Scribe Pen Half-Off At Best Buy and More

Swype purchased for $100 million by Nuance

Nuance dug deep into their coffers for Swype – to the tune of a cool $100 million thereabouts in fact – according to a source who knows all the wheelings and dealings that is going on. Seattle-based startup Swype is something of a revolution when it comes to virtual keyboards if you find it difficult to make the transition from a physical QWERTY keyboard over to a virtual one.

Ubergizmo, Swype purchased for $100 million by Nuance

NASA-approved electric airplane covers 200 miles in a couple of hours

Simple mathematics deduce that this NASA-approved electric airplane that you see above will travel at speeds of up to 100mph – after all, how else did it cover 200 miles in two hours. While electric airplanes are not new, this one is clearly a triumph in flight efficiency as well as battery life, being able to sustain a 200 mile flight using nothing but electricity alone. In fact, when you convert the amount of electricity used, it is roughly equal to that of 2 gallons of gas – or less.



Ubergizmo, NASA-approved electric airplane covers 200 miles in a couple of hours

IRL: AirPort Express, Jabra Freeway and rooting the Nook Color

Welcome toIRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Just a guy and his AirPort. Tim already covered one of my favorite travel accessories in a prior IRL, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to gush about my second must-have item when it comes time to scurry about. It's Apple's AirPort Express, and even if it were made by Sanrio, I'd still have to have it. Why? Simple. Most European and Asian hotels that I've been to like to charge you per connection, and it's usually some insane rate.




Engadget, IRL: AirPort Express, Jabra Freeway and rooting the Nook Color

DVBLink v4 out of beta, brings live TV, EPG and remote recording on the go

That Boxee client update we saw recently wasn't the only thing brewing over at DVBLogic. It was part of a wider refresh of the company's DVBLink products, including the final release of its Connect. server software that can stream live TV from a network-connected tuner out to Android, iOS and WP client apps with EPG and remote recording. Other improvements include the ability to connect up to eight virtual tuners to Windows Media Center, the promise of less painful WMC setup, as well as a DVBLink Remote API that will allow third parties to create clients for other devices.

Engadget, DVBLink v4 out of beta, brings live TV, EPG and remote recording on the go

Nuance Buying Swype For More Than $100 Million

Pretty big news coming out of the tech world if this all pans out. According to Uncrunched, Swype has just been acquired by Nuance for the sum of 100 million dollars. Currently, Nuance is the proud owner of the T9 input method you've been using on flip phones since before Android and more recently, they made a splash for their voice recognition software powering the iPhone 4S's Siri and Dragon desktop software. So what does this acquisition mean? Some say it's Nuance's way of eliminating the competition (T9 and Swype don't get along). No one can say for sure.

Android Phone, Nuance Buying Swype For More Than $100 Million

Goodwood Revival historic race showcases classic touring cars

It's always a thrill to watch vintage racing, and that's doubly so when the cars are as varied as they are at the Goodwood Revival's 1960s Touring Cars class. In the video after the break, you'll see such classic machinery as the V8-powered Ford Galaxie, 300-horsepower Jaguar Mk II, Lotus Cortina, Mini Cooper (the original, naturally), Alfa Romeo GT and BMW 1600. How can a puny 1.6-liter Mini Cooper possibly compete with cars boasting twice as much power.

Autoblog, Goodwood Revival historic race showcases classic touring cars

7-inch Lenovo IdeaPad A1 with Android Gingerbread now available to order starting at $199

Lenovo's newest Android-powered tablet is called the IdeaPad A1 and was unveiled at the beginning of September during IFA. The IdeaPad A1 is Lenovo's first 7-inch offering, and it comes with some decent specs and great pricing. However, the whole package is a bit let down by software. See, the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread for reasons that are beyond us. Android 3.2 Honeycomb is readily available now, and it is the tablet-optimized version of Google's mobile operating system. Furthermore, this version, 3.2, is even made to work well with screens of resolutions similar to that of the IdeaPad A1.

Unwired View, 7-inch Lenovo IdeaPad A1 with Android Gingerbread now available to order starting at $199

Rocksmith promo video released

. Rocksmith, the game the first video game that actually teaches people how to play with a real guitar will be released in eleven days, and Ubisoft has released a new promo video for the game. Featuring professional video gamer, Fatal1ty, the video shows his progress in the game after spending three days with the game. Granted he didn't make much of an improvement in that short period of time (which was odd since he claimed he used to play back in college), but it does show us more of the game which looks pretty good in my opinion.



Ubergizmo, Rocksmith promo video released

Sony to buy off Ericsson's shares in their joint mobile business

WallStreet Journal reports that Sony Corp. is on its way to finish off the deal with Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson, which would make Sony the sole and primary shareholder of the Sony Ericsson joint venture.

GSM Arena, Sony to buy off Ericsson's shares in their joint mobile business

Motorola's Facebook phone (EX225) hits the FCC

Discovered by us in early September, the Motorola EX225 – which comes with a Facebook button and Facebook UI integration – has just been approved by the FCC. The FCC has confirmed that the phone features 3G and Wi-Fi, in addition to the features we've already presented in September: a 2.4 inch display, full QWERTY keyboard, and a rear camera of unknown resolution.



Unwired View, Motorola's Facebook phone (EX225) hits the FCC

Rohm Wireless Power Transmission system hands-on (video)

Wireless power demos abound at CEATEC, and Rohm Semiconductor had their own variant on hand with a complete mix of direct-draw gadgets, along with the omnipresent charging iPhone 4 (or was it a 4S?). Like Murata's prototype, the Rohm flavor uses square electrodes instead of the coils that you'll find in traditional wireless power solutions, like Qi. But unlike that seemingly identical solution from Murata, this version supports much greater power efficiency - something in the 92 to 93 percent range (compared to the competing pad's 70-percent efficiency rating).







Engadget, Rohm Wireless Power Transmission system hands-on (video)

Kaspersky Lab launches advanced security software to help channel partners maximise business opportunities

Kaspersky Endpoint Security 8 for Windows and Kaspersky Security Center combine intelligent protection with comprehensive management to ensure efficient IT security and high productivityAbingdon, UK, 6 October 2011 - In today's business climate, organisations of all sizes are looking to drive greater efficiency, productivity, competitiveness and profitability. Many are turning to new technologies such as cloud computing, virtualisation and mobile technologies to help them achieve these goals. However, these technologies bring with them new threats and vulnerabilities, often dramatically increasing the risk of malware infection.

Press Release Distribution, Kaspersky Lab launches advanced security software to help channel partners maximise business opportunities

Verizon exclusive Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets its full specs leaked ahead of October 11 unveiling

This coming Tuesday, Samsung and Google are expected to officially unveil their newest Android phone. We've heard about this device countless times so far, and it's been rumored to be called anything from Droid Prime to Nexus Prime to Galaxy Nexus. And it looks like it's going to be Galaxy Nexus after all. That's according to BGR, who have also received a full spec list for the smartphone from a ‘trusted source'. So first of all, don't forget that this all has rumor status right now. Although everything kind of fits with previous rumors and leaks as well as with Google's track record with the Nexus S.

Confused? Let me explain.

Unwired View, Verizon exclusive Samsung Galaxy Nexus gets its full specs leaked ahead of October 11 unveiling

LG-made T-Mobile myTouch and myTouch Q for unveiled

Did you know that LG was working on a couple of Android smartphones for T-Mobile - a QWERTY slider and a full-touch bar. Of course, you did. And now, thanks to a press release issued by the US carrier, you know what those will be all about. The T-Mobile myTouch Q is a Gingerbread-running full-touch droid with a 3.8" LCD that packs a Snapdragon chipset under the hood. The Scorpion CPU is of the single-core variety and is clocked at 1GHz.

5 megapixel stills and 720p video recording is what the T-Mobile myTouch camera can offer, while its network connectivity maxes at HSPA+.

GSM Arena

See also:
technologypulse, LG-made T-Mobile myTouch and myTouch Q for unveiled

Dunder Mifflin Releases New Pyramid Tablet – Challenges Conventional Rectangle Tablets [Video]

If iOS isn't really your thang and the upcoming Kindle Fire isn't enough “tablet” for you — I may have some good news. Dunder Mifflin-Sabre is jumping head-first into the tablet scene with their very own tablet “The Pyramid.” Unlike your traditional rectangle tablet (read: snore-fest) which is sure to be the target of frivolous litigation, the Pyramid comes in an unconventional triangle shape. This allows for users to “unleash the power of the pyramid.”. So how much power are we talking about here? Well, without the optional battery pack and memory booster, the device only weighs in at around 3lbs.

Android Phone, Dunder Mifflin Releases New Pyramid Tablet â€" Challenges Conventional Rectangle Tablets [Video]

Scosche RDTX and HRDTX radiation detectors

I would not have expected a company like Scosche to release devices like the RDTX and HRDTX home radiation detectors, but here they are. Surprisingly enough, it isn't all that expensive with the RDTX retailing for around $28 after conversion. The RDTX radiation detector comes with an app for the iPhone and iPod touch, and will share similar features as that of the RDTX-PRO save for the missing stand-alone alarm function. It might be slightly less accurate, but is more than enough to handle all background radiation levels.

Ubergizmo, Scosche RDTX and HRDTX radiation detectors

Cheap graphics cards help crack passwords

Do you happen to be in possession of some rather nifty hacking knowledge, and also a £30 graphics card lying around the basement somewhere. If you answered “Yes” on both accounts, then good – chances are you are already equipped to be able to crack passwords in just a dozen seconds. This was what business hosting firm UKFast revealed as part of Cyber Security Awareness Month, where they laid claim that hackers are able to figure out just what your password is in under 12 seconds with the kind of equipment mentioned, where tests involved an Nvidia Geforce GT220 graphics card as well as a Windows 7 machine.

Ubergizmo, Cheap graphics cards help crack passwords

Kanagawa Institute of Technology intros “Mommy Tummy” a Pregnancy Simulator

This is the latest pregnancy simulation system developed by a research group at Kanagawa Institute of Technology. It was displayed at the Tokyo Game Show 2011. In this system, the user wears a jacket that contains rubber balloons, vibrators, a water-bag, touch sensors, and air actuators. The abdomen gradually increases in size as the baby grows, and the fetus can be observed on a monitor.

“Pregnancy usually lasts 10 months and ten days, but with this system, the abdomen reaches full-term size in two minutes.




Akihabara News, Kanagawa Institute of Technology intros “Mommy Tummy” a Pregnancy Simulator

Google Earth hits one billion downloads, those with fear of flying still getting virtual kicks

In a feat that outdoes even Dr. Evil's vision of worldwide domination, the folks in Mountain View have reported a staggering one billion downloads of Google Earth. Over the years, the service has taken us around the world, giving us a peak into amazing and sometimes obscure places ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. It's also evolved from its humble beginnings as a desktop app back in 2005 to include a mobile app and a plug-in, not to mention a 3D flight simulation used with Google Maps - all features that helped it reach the astronomical milestone. For that, we salute you Google Earth.

Engadget, Google Earth hits one billion downloads, those with fear of flying still getting virtual kicks