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Windows Phone 7 Series multitasking: the real deal – 16383th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:16 +0000

We’ve definitely learned a ton about Windows Phone 7 Series here at MIX, but getting the full picture on multitasking has been difficult, since the OS isn’t ready, no one has final hardware, and the emulator seems to behave differently than actual devices and Microsoft’s descriptions. So let’s set the record straight on multitasking: it’s not going to happen, at least not in the traditional way. Not only have we directly confirmed this with Microsoft executives several times, but the developer sessions here are totally clear on the matter — you don’t tell 1000+ devs that they should expect their apps to be killed whenever the user switches away from them if you don’t mean it. Now, that’s not to say that the OS can’t do multitasking: first-party apps like the Zune player and IE can run in the background, and third-party apps are actually left running in a suspended state (Microsoft calls it “dehydrated”) as long as the system doesn’t need any additional resources. If the user cycles back to an app, it’s resumed (”rehydrated”) and life continues merrily along, but if the user opens other apps and the system needs additional resources, the app is killed without any indication or remorse.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s basically a single-tasking riff on Android and Windows Mobile 6, both of which also purport to intelligently manage multiple running applications like this, and both of which usually find themselves greatly improved with manual task managers. We’ll have to see if Windows Phone 7 Series can do a better job once it ships — we have a feeling it will — and later down the line we’ll see if Microsoft decides to extend multitasking to third-party apps. But for now, just know that you’re not going to be running Pandora in the background while you do other tasks on a 7 Series device — it is a question we have specifically asked, and the answer, unfortunately, is no.

P.S. Still don’t believe us? Hear it for yourself directly from Microsoft’s Todd Brix:

Windows Phone 7 Series multitasking: the real deal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Nilay Patel

A CableCARD replacement is due by December 2012, bandaids by this Fall – 16382th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:15 +0000

While most of the FCC’s new Broadband plan has been about, well, broadband, there’s also some great news for HDTV fans. We expected a few mentions about CableCARD and its future when the FCC requested comments and declared it a failure, but we’re still glad to see that the FCC listened to consumer electronics companies like TiVo and Sony — among others. The biggest news is that the FCC has asked the industry to come up with a residential IP gateway that is open and that will provide same abilities as your provider’s equipment, and most importantly, it should enable the very same gear to work no matter what type of service you prefer, whether it be satellite, cable or fiber — for example, via various gateways the same TiVo would work with either DirecTV or Comcast. But while the FCC has given the industry until December of 2012 to define and deploy these IP gateways before implementing an “appropriate enforcement mechanism,” in the meantime the FCC wants to see the biggest issues with CableCARDs resolved by this Fall. The list below of immediate fixes is pretty impressive, and other than the persistent lack of video on demand support, it’ll help make CableCARD a pretty respectable solution.

Ditch Tuning Adapters and let devices with Ethernet ports communicate upstream via IP to tune SDV channels.
If a customer has a CableCARD in their leased set-top box, it must be reflected on the bill like any other CableCARD would.
If the provider offers a self install for leased set-top boxes, they must also allow self install of a CableCARD.
Software shouldn’t require the same CableLabs certification hardware does.

Continue reading A CableCARD replacement is due by December 2012, bandaids by this Fall

A CableCARD replacement is due by December 2012, bandaids by this Fall originally appeared on Engadget HD on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Ben Drawbaugh

PlayStation Move ad pulls no motion-controlled punches against Wii, Project Natal – 16381th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:14 +0000

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/playstation/PlayStation_Move_ad_pokes_fun_at_Project_Natal_and_Wii’; Sony’s VP of Realistic Movements Kevin Butler (boy, does that guy have a large business card) is at it again, this time in a video ad for the PlayStation Move. He’s back from the future to thank us all for the success of the motion control device, and make a few jabs towards Nintendo and Microsoft for their efforts. Here’s a few choice quotes.

“Because real boxers don’t hit like this [flails arms exasperatingly]“
“It’s also got what we in the future call buttons, which turn out to be pretty important to those handful of millions of people who enjoy playing shooters, platformers, well, anything that doesn’t involve catching a big red ball.”
“C’mon, who wants to pretend their hand is a gun. What is this, third grade? Pew, pew, pew.”

Check out the futuristic — or now-eristic, rather — commercial after the break. And if you ask, sorry, we still wouldn’t bet on Kansas City in six.

Continue reading PlayStation Move ad pulls no motion-controlled punches against Wii, Project Natal

PlayStation Move ad pulls no motion-controlled punches against Wii, Project Natal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Ross Miller

Google TV: Android-based web platform for the living room, with help from Intel, Sony, and Logitech – 16380th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:12 +0000

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/tech_news/Google_TV_Android_Intel_Logitech_Sony_in_the_living_rm’; There’s not a lot to see here — in fact, there’s nothing at all to see at this point — but The New York Times has it on good authority that Google, Intel, and Sony have teamed up to develop an Android-powered internet platform using Atom processors for televisions and set-top boxes. Dubbed Google TV, the apparent mantra seems to be making web app navigation (Twitter, Picasa, etc.) as easy as changing the channel. Joining the fun will be the peripheral casanovas at Logitech for, you guessed it, peripherals. It certainly isn’t novel territory, from as far back as WebTV to as recent as Yahoo! widgets — and from Google itself, be it Motoblur boxes or Dish Network trials — but the proof will be in the pudding, and for now, mum’s the word on any more concrete details. As they say, stay tuned.

Google TV: Android-based web platform for the living room, with help from Intel, Sony, and Logitech originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Ross Miller

UK Folding Plug takes home design award, emerges in USB-infused flavor – 16379th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:10 +0000

It’s far and away one of the most genius concepts we’ve seen in the past year, and we couldn’t possibly be happier for one Min-Kyu Choi. Said designer, who recently graduated from the Royal College of Art, was recently showered with laud after the above-pictured Folding Plug nabbed the gold in the Brit Insurance Design contest. Unfortunately, we’re still no closer to understanding when some moneyed manufacturer will pick this up and start producing it, but hopefully this prize will reinforce its awesomeness and catch someone’s eye. In related news, we’re also seeing for the first time a Folding Plug version with USB ports on the exterior, which would be just about perfect for UK-based gadget junkies. Here’s hoping this dream doesn’t die just before reaching the conveyor belt, yeah?

UK Folding Plug takes home design award, emerges in USB-infused flavor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Darren Murph

Updated Archos 13 laptop to roll out next month – 16378th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:09 +0000

This one looks to have largely gotten lost among the hubbub of CeBIT earlier this month, but it seems like Archos quietly announced a followup to its Archos 13 laptop, which is now set to debut sometime next month. Complete details are still a bit light unfortunately, but the revised model will sport that always desirably “classy look,” along with an Atom D510, Windows 7 Home Premium for an OS and, presumably, a 13.3-inch display. No word on pricing just yet, but the original Archos 13 came in at an even $800.

Updated Archos 13 laptop to roll out next month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Donald Melanson

EVGA Classified SR-2 fits two Xeon CPUs for 24 threads, exemplifies overkill – 16377th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:08 +0000

Remember EVGA’s seven-GPU motherboard monstrosity, the W555? That experimental beast of a board just got declassified — and given immediate launch orders. Under the new “Classified SR-2″ callsign, the board’s layout has hardly changed since CES (though the heatsinks certainly got a makeover) but the big news here is that each of its two CPU sockets will support those fancy new six-core Xeon processors. As you’re well aware, two times six is twelve — and since each of the Xeon 5600’s cores can handle 2 threads, you’re looking at the basis for a 24-threaded powerhouse for mondo multitasking performance. Factor in enough slots for 4-way SLI, CrossFireX and 48GB of RAM, and it’s not hard to figure out why the red-and-black HPTX (15- x 13.6-inches!) creation commands a $600 price point. The only questions are how much a full system will deplete your wallet, and how many fuses your house will blow after pressing the power button.

Correction: Just a note that Intel’s Core i7-980X isn’t supported here, but the new Xeon 5600 CPUs are.

Gallery: EVGA Classified SR-2

EVGA Classified SR-2 fits two Xeon CPUs for 24 threads, exemplifies overkill originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Sean Hollister

Windows Phone 7 Series gaming, all up in the club (video!) – 16376th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:07 +0000

So… look. Sometimes you find yourself in a Vegas club at 3AM, holding a Windows Phone 7 Series testing device loaded up with a working copy of The Harvest, and you shoot what might be world’s shakiest video of the gameplay using a nearby Nexus One. It’s practically a rite of passage in this town, right? Video after the break.

Update: Also, sometimes you find yourself in a Vegas hotel the day after the Vegas club, nursing your brutal headache and desperately seeking a second opportunity to film that hot unreleased game with a better camera. Video of that is after the break, too.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series gaming, all up in the club (video!)

Windows Phone 7 Series gaming, all up in the club (video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Nilay Patel

BlackBerry push framework now available to all developers – 16375th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:05 +0000

It’s been a year or so since RIM announced that push APIs had become available to its Alliance Program members, and now it looks like the rest of us are finally able to get in on the action (at least those of us who are BlackBerry devs). Starting today, access comes in two packages: either BlackBerry Push Essentials (the free version) or BlackBerry Push Plus with a number of tiers that reflect different options and price points. So, what are you waiting for? If it’s good enough to implement in Weather Bug Elite it’s good enough for your application, right? Hit the source link to get started.

BlackBerry push framework now available to all developers originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Joseph L. Flatley

Is Canada’s iPod tax back? And if so, will BJ Snowden get her cut? – 16374th Edition

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:57:03 +0000

We know, BJ Snowden is an American artist — but since her song “In Canada” is probably on every iPod and computer up north, we have to wonder whether a proposed amendment to the Canadian Copyright act will help her finally get what’s coming to her. The brainchild of the New Democratic Party’s Charlie Angus, the bill would extend 1997’s Private Copying Levy “to the next generation of devices that consumers are using for copying sound recordings for personal use.” Proponents of the plan says that it ensures that artists get paid for their work — essentially, the government wants you to pay upfront for the music you’re likely to steal anyways by taxing your next digital audio player purchase. Of course, much about the plan doesn’t make sense (it doesn’t address digital video, for instance, or the computers that people use to download and store their music in the first place) but we guess we’ll let the Canadian government hash that one out. This is obviously not a new idea, and it is one the courts have rejected already, but who knows? Maybe this time it will “take.” Lets hope not, eh?

Continue reading Is Canada’s iPod tax back? And if so, will BJ Snowden get her cut?

Is Canada’s iPod tax back? And if so, will BJ Snowden get her cut? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Joseph L. Flatley