Recent Comments:
Microsoft temporarily suspends Sky Player for Xbox 360 {Engadget}
Oct 29th 2009 4:33AM @Gimboa: Don't confuse the hardware's capabilities with what the software's actually getting out of it. Sure you may think this looks a little primitive, but 360 games can and do look as good as PS3 ones (better, in some cases, due to it outspeccing the PS3 in some areas, while the PS3 does the same thing in other areas, so really it depends what you're wanting to do with it).
I think the style of this thing is a deliberate decision so that it all fits nicely with the style of the 360's avatars. Besides, once you're watching something fullscreen, who cares whether it can show reflections of it in real time in the tears in your avatar's eyes (automatically generated by watching you have a sniffle during the emotional moments)? It's a video player, for crying out loud.
International Kindle won't let you use terrible web browser overseas {Engadget}
Oct 15th 2009 4:44AM At least we don't have to worry about losing our healthcare when we want to change jobs.
On topic: 'International Kindle' is currently a joke, but Amazon more or less admitted that in their original press release. The only thing that really surprised me was that its jokiness wasn't more widely reported at the time. They say they're going to do it properly at some point in the future, so... buy a Sony eReader instead?
TomTom Start wants to democratize GPS navigation: smartphones point, laugh {Engadget}
Oct 7th 2009 3:28AM I agree. TomTom's iPhone app and mount and so forth costs far more than a standalone TomTom device, and seems to be far more hassle. Why would I want my satnav software to run on my phone which I'm going to replace every 18 months as my contracts expire and I can get a better one? If I get a standalone unit, I can keep it for as long as I can get map updates for it. I don't have to worry that changing smartphone platform is going to require me to buy another ridiculously overpriced satnav solution for the phone.
Maybe if it was genuinely cheaper than a separate device, and I was confident enough that I'd get another phone on the same platform and could transfer the app across without buying it again (hahahahahaha), and it had suitable options to allow me to use the satnav while also blocking incoming calls and other crash-inducing distractions from the phone's normal functions, I would consider it. At the moment though, no. Dedicated device all the way.
Orbiting fuel stations proposed for trips to the Moon, Mars, and beyond {Engadget}
Aug 5th 2009 3:22AM Umm... the same stuff they launch into orbit as part of the vehicle anyway? How do you think the Apollo missions got to the moon? They took another fuel tank and another rocket up with them, and ignited that in orbit to head out there (and get back again). This would eliminate the need to have one single vehicle which carries everything they need in one go. You get into orbit on the minimum fuel, then refuel once you get there and carry on. Smaller space vehicles launching from the surface, overall probably a significant cost saving once the infrastructure's in place.
As for catastrophic explosions... there's no oxygen in space, so if you keep the oxygen and hydrogen tanks on the station well apart all you're going to suffer from an impact is a tank rupture and leakage and pushing the station out of its orbit. But I don't think the very clever people at NASA would build something like that without taking that into account, do you?
Senators to introduce legislation banning texting while driving {Engadget}
Jul 30th 2009 3:20AM @philandshazroe: I also live in the UK, and you're not entirely correct. Driving without due care and attention certainly covers texting while driving, but there's a specific offence of using a mobile device while driving, which is usually handled by means of a fixed penalty fine of £60 and three points on your driving licence (non-UK people, once you accumulate 12 points on your licence you get an automatic driving ban, so that's much more of an inducement than the fine).
I also don't know which part of the UK you live in, but I wish I did live there - where I live, I see people using a mobile while driving quite frequently. But then, if people don't stop speeding on roads with speed cameras, why should we expect them to want to preserve their licence any other way? It's probably got a lot to do with how there aren't many police out and about on the roads - certainly not enough for the volume of traffic. When there is, those phones tend to disappear pretty sharp...
Vuzix's $249.95 iWear AV310 Widescreen eyewear now shipping globally {Engadget}
Feb 20th 2009 4:01AM Only to -5 dioptre? Useless to me if I wasn't wearing my contact lenses then... boo hiss!
Lexicon announces I?ONIX line of USB desktop recording interfaces {Engadget}
Dec 22nd 2008 4:04AM Where's the XLR input then?
Akai's EWI USB wind instrument now shipping, to reveal your inner Kenny G. {Engadget}
Nov 16th 2008 5:48AM But if you plug an ordinary EWI4000s into a VL-70m you can get the same sounds you get with a WX7 plugged into it. I went for the Akai instrument due to being a recorder player, and it offers an increased level of familiarity compared to the Yamaha wind controllers which are very sax-like.
I also have a lot of fun with the built-in analogue modelling synth, I must admit, although it's awful at realistic sounds. So I'm going to get a VL-70m one day. Physically modelling synth ftw.
MSI Wind U100 coming to "major retailer," Wind 2 coming this quarter {Engadget}
Oct 6th 2008 2:57AM Actually I think it might be because a lot of people aren't aware of the possibility of an alternative operating system. They might be aware that Macs are different, but the Wind isn't a Mac so if they get it home and find it running Linux they're going to be surprised, confused and their instinct is that there's something wrong with it. This is not what I wanted.
What does 'Linux' mean to the average ignorant computer user anyway? Not the people who read Engadget for the most part, but the people who keep spammers in business.
Bionic lens to debut in the next half-decade {Engadget}
Sep 13th 2008 4:06AM I'm extremely myopic and have moderate astigmatism to complicate the issue. LASIK surgery is not considered wise, as my corneas are a bit too thin to remove enough material to correct my vision. Implanted contact lenses might suffice, I don't know yet, but any news of a potential new surgery to sort out my kind of vision problem is great. This would also be a huge advance for cataracts patients, and for people with ordinary age-related vision degeneration.
Although for my purposes, I'm just interested in anything that'll let me get through the vision check for police recruitment.
