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Kicking up a fuss about Netflix hogging all your bandwidth? Perhaps the company's latest partnership could induce a rapid change of heart. The streaming service has paired up with eyeIO in hopes of keeping bandwidth usage during streams to a minimum, which they claim won't affect the content's overall quality. While the joint venture just became official, the startup's "ultra-low-bandwidth" encoding technology -- that allegedly can reduce usage on a 720p HD stream by more than 50 percent -- began its testing phase on the streaming-giant's offerings months ago. Although eyeIO's service has already been implemented by Netflix, it's worth mentioning this isn't an exclusive deal, thus it's possible for its competition to jump on the bandwidth conservation bandwagon in the future. More importantly, we're interested to find out if you have noticed any difference in your streams lately, so drop us a line in the comments below.

Continue reading Netflix teams with eyeIO to lower bandwith use on movie night

Netflix teams with eyeIO to lower bandwith use on movie night originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#weekendhacker It's a sad fact of life that over time, all of our computers get a little bit slower. Before you start shelling out for a new machine, take some time this weekend to perform some maintenance tasks, upgrade a single piece of hardware, or even overclock your machine for a little speed boost. More »

Usually, when passwords and personal information are exposed, it's because someone hacked a company's not-so-secure system. Motorola, however, managed to put people's info at risk without such malfeasance when it failed to wipe the memory of a batch of refurbished Xooms. The tablets in question were sold by Woot.com between October and December of last year, and Moto is claiming that it made the mistake on only small number of slates. Of course, we don't know exactly how many Xooms were shipped with previous owners' data onboard, but we do know that the company is actively attempting to make amends. Moto's offering two years of Experian identification protection services to those whose info was exposed and owners of affected Xooms are getting a little something too. Just send the device back to Motorola on the company's dime -- where it'll be properly reset and sent back to you, along with a $100 American Express gift card for your efforts. Wondering if you're among the unlucky? Hit the PR after the break for more info, and those with Wooted Xooms can plug in their slate's serial number at the source link below to find out for sure.

[Thanks, Scott]

Continue reading Oops! Motorola sold refurbished Xooms without deleting previous owners' data

Oops! Motorola sold refurbished Xooms without deleting previous owners' data originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The latest report is in from ComScore, and as you might expect, the news is sunshine and roses for the crews at Google and Apple. Both companies platforms charted some worthwhile month-over-month gains, as Android is estimated to account for 47.3 percent of smartphones in the US, while iOS runs a strong second with 26.9 percent. Meanwhile, former BlackBerry fans continue to scatter, as the platform now accounts for 16 percent of smartphone users. Similarly, Windows Phone (and whatever's left of Windows Mobile) have taken it on the chin, and have fallen to just 4.7 percent market share. Without ever gaining much traction in the US, Symbian now makes up 1.4 percent of the smartphone pie. You'll find a quick look at the manufacturing side of the equation, along with the full ComScore press release, after the break.

Continue reading ComScore: Android and iOS gallop ahead, US smartphone usage approaches 100 million

ComScore: Android and iOS gallop ahead, US smartphone usage approaches 100 million originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#forwhatitsworth Poland thinks twice about passing ACTA, Google will no longer use CDMA devices as developer units, and a new study begs the question, "Do iOS apps crash more frequently than Android apps?" More »

#learning Wired's Garth Sundem sat down with the Robert Bjork, director of UCLA's Learning and Forgetting Lab, to discuss how you can best "[pack] things in your brain in a way that keeps them from leaking out". What he learned? A lot of our basic assumptions are wrong. More »

#iostips You've no doubt seen the split keyboard that iOS 5 brought to the iPad, but it turns out it has a few hidden buttons on the edges. Here's how they work. More »

HP's Enyo framework is an essential ingredient for allowing new apps to work on webOS devices with different resolutions, but due to some sort of ethnocentric hiccup, v1.0 hasn't officially reached all international webOS phones and tablets. Fortunately, WebOS Internals has prepared a nice little Preware install package that anyone, anywhere can enjoy. At this point, adding Enyo will only provide access to a few extra apps, but at least the world will be reunited in its preparedness for a glistening future, right?

webOS Enyo 1.0 now available to all, just requires patch and patience originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#howto Many carriers these days are blocking apps from the Market, like Google Wallet or Wireless Tether. Droid Life shows us a super easy way to install them on your unrooted phone. More »

You know the saying, second place is the first loser? Well, it looks like AT&T, which recently saw its attempt to absorb T-Mobile thwarted, is living up to that adage by petitioning the FCC to impose an "overly aggressive buildout" of Dish's planned mobile network. In a recent filing to the Commission, the satco countered this request for "LightSquared-like" requirements, defining its operation as a strictly retail endeavor, one that faces entirely different hurdles than that of its wholesale competitor. If granted, however, these conditions could see the fledgling network rushed to the marketplace before the completion of an LTE-Advanced standard and widespread availability of compatible devices -- both key elements of the MVPD's service strategy. The company also goes on to contest interference issues surrounding its 700MHz holdings, stating that it has no current plans to repurpose the spectrum for mobile broadband use, despite AT&T's claims to that effect. We'll keep you posted as this wireless battle plays out. In the meantime, hit up the source below to peruse the dense legalese.

AT&T seeks to impose conditions on Dish LTE network, FCC to settle wireless squabble originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#deals The Daily App Deals post is a round-up of the best app discounts of the day, as well as some notable mentions for ones that are on sale. More »

Ever since Amazon unveiled its cheap-as-chips Kindle Touch, the thing's been selling like mad here in the US. However, our friends on other continents haven't been able to enjoy swiping and tapping its multitouch E Ink display -- until now, that is. Amazon failed to alert the masses with a press release, but a quick gander at the WiFi Touch's product page shows there's an option to ship one just about anywhere on the globe. Unfortunately, people in parts of the world with country-specific Amazon portals like Germany, France and the UK must still settle for the button-dependent Kindle 4. We're glad to see Bezos broadening his touchscreen e-reader's horizons, but let's not keep our friends across the pond Kindle Touch-free for much longer, OK?

WiFi Kindle Touch gets its passport, now available internationally originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#skype The newest version of Skype lets you initiate IMs and video chat sessions with Facebook users, even if they aren't running Skype. It also includes group screen sharing, a push to talk feature, and HD video for certain webcams. More »

We here at Engadget tend to spend a lot of way too much time poring over the latest FCC filings, be it on the net or directly on the ol' Federal Communications Commission's site. Since we couldn't possibly (want to) cover all the stuff that goes down there individually, we've gathered up an exhaustive listing of every phone and / or tablet getting the stamp of approval over the last week. Enjoy!

Continue reading FCC Fridays: February 3, 2012

FCC Fridays: February 3, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new mobile gaming startup that's yet to release a single game isn't the sort of thing we'd normally cover 'round here, but the story behind Los Angeles-based Innovative Leisure is anything but ordinary. The man behind the company is the co-creator of the Xbox, Seamus Blackley, and he's brought with him eleven industry veterans that he calls "the dream team from Atari," including the likes of Van Burnham, Ed Logg, Rich Adam, Tim Skelly, Owen Rubin, and Ed Rotberg. While those names may not be familiar to everyone, you'll surely recognize some of the games they were responsible for: Asteroids, Centipede, Gauntlet, Missile Command, Battlezone, S.T.U.N. Runner, Major Havoc and Space Duel, to name a few.

Speaking with VentureBeat, Blackley describes mobile devices as "the new arcade" and 99 cent games as the "new quarter," adding that he's aiming to carry on where Atari left off, "focusing on innovation in gameplay." To help with that, the company has secured backing from THQ, which has reportedly agreed to an initial slate of ten games, seven of which are now in development (with only the iPhone and iPad mentioned as supported platforms so far). Unfortunately, details remain light beyond that, with Blackley only offering late summer or fall as an estimated release date for the first titles. In the meantime, you can find more of the backstory at the links below (THQ's press release can also be found after the break).

Continue reading Xbox co-creator brings together Atari 'dream team' for mobile gaming startup

Xbox co-creator brings together Atari 'dream team' for mobile gaming startup originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#highlights This week we snagged a few more gigabytes of free Dropbox space, skipped out on unnecessary fees, made better use of our personal domains, and more. Here's a look back. More »

The sales team in [Chuck’s] office is a pretty competitive bunch as you might expect, and they decided that they wanted a system which would allow them to challenge one another during their weekly meetings. The competition involves answering questions posed by their manager, but hand raising only works for so long – they needed a definitive way to tell who “buzzed in” to answer a question first.

Since [Chuck] only had a short bit of time and a tiny budget to work on, he opted to find the easiest solution to the problem, which was an Arduino-based game show buzzer system. The game display is built from an Arduino, some LEDs and an Altoids tin, while the buzzer pushbuttons were salvaged from an old radio broadcast console.

Now, when a question is posed, the salesman can buzz in to answer, knowing that only the quickest person’s button click will be registered. When it’s time for another question, the host simply clicks his buzzer to reset the console.

While it’s not quite as fancy as this game buzzer system we featured a while back, [Chuck] says it does the job perfectly and was cheap to boot.

Continue reading to see a short video of the office game buzzer system in action.

Filed under: arduino hacks

Some of you may have noticed that the Verizon version of the Galaxy Nexus is no longer listed as a supported, official developer device by Google. Despite rumors to the contrary, it doesn't appear this has anything to do with the kerfuffle over Wallet, but instead centers around technical issues relating to the APK files required for CDMA connectivity and the signing of those libraries. Other devices have also disappeared from the support pages, including the Nexus S 4G and the Verizon-branded Xoom. Google has posted an update explaining that, "for various technical reasons" CDMA telephony is handled by binaries provided by the carrier in newer devices. The result is different signatures being associated with those APKs than a pure AOSP builds and, thus, those essential components don't function properly.

Google explained the disappearance by saying "we aim to make sure that we are as clear as possible about the degree of support that devices have," before going on to promise all Nexus devices would continue to have unlockable bootloaders and that as many of the closed-source binaries as possible would be made available. For the complete statement hit up the source link.

Galaxy Nexus and other CDMA devices removed from Google Support pages originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do you wish you had your own personal Jetpack? Well, you may not have to wait much longer for ZTE's version -- the EuFi I890, announced at CES last month -- to come out, if its entry into the records of the FCC are any indication. It may not be the kind that you strap onto your back, but at least this one takes advantage of Verizon's LTE, and it happens to add in CDMA / EVDO and AT&T-compatible 3G radios. We knew the 4G-packing MiFi was going to hit stores in "the coming weeks," so this is essentially just one step closer to achieving that goal -- unfortunately, we still don't have a solid date yet. Hit the source link if you're into digging through government documents.

Verizon's ZTE Jetpack flies through FCC, arrival time still unknown originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is the end, dear PlayBook-admiring friends. That is to say, it's the end-of-life for RIM's first unsuccessful stab at tablet computing. Unsurprisingly, the marketing blitzkrieg that saw J.Lo and the Flash Gordon theme awkwardly peddle the flailing tab hasn't done much to elevate sales or consumer interest, forcing its Canadian overlords to issue Telus an EOL notice. This not unexpected bit of news comes right on the heels of the BB maker's recently leaked device roadmap, in which a spring bow for a higher-specced, 3G+ enabled iteration is clearly denoted. Whatever Waterloo's near future plans for the category are, we know for sure they won't include BB 10 until much later this year. Chin up though, folks. At least we have OS 2.0 to soothe our fraught nerves in the interim.

[Thanks, Jaimie]

Continue reading All PlayBooks go to heaven: Telus leak points to end-of-life status

All PlayBooks go to heaven: Telus leak points to end-of-life status originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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