We’re taking this with a big block of salt, but we may have just had our first real peek at the Motorola Dinara’s American form. A claimed press shot has the possibly Snapdragon S4-powered Android 4.0 phone carrying a fairly plain shell, but also sporting a 720p display and an all-touch interface borrowed from Motorola’s recent Chinese introductions. The tip to The Verge hasn’t produced any shocks, including the mention of LTE and preloaded AT&T apps, although the badging does give us some room for skepticism: AT&T rarely if ever leaves its three-letter name out of phone branding, and that front camera position is slightly odd. As long as no wool has been pulled over eyes, however, the Dinara could be a candidate for another Atrix sequel that keeps Motorola on Big Blue.

Purported Motorola Dinara press shot slips out, carries a whiff of Atrix 3 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed a process to organically grow proteins that could one day be applied to produce silicon dioxide for computer chips or titanium dioxide for solar cells. The team, led by professor emeritus Daniel Morse, began by creating artificial cells with a plastic bead nucleus inside an oil membrane and then attached the DNA of a silica-forming protein. After soaking these artificial cells in silicon or titanium molecules, researchers found that in some cases the cells had evolved a new protein that can be used to create sheets of these fibers. Scientists look to use this technique to create other proteins with previously unseen structures, and to further optimize the…

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The racehorse I’ll Have Another has pulled out this weekend’s Belmont Stakes due to injury and will miss a chance at the sport’s highest achievement.

But his popular Twitter feed lives on.

I’ll Have Another, a three-year-old colt, won the Kentucky Derby in May as a 15-1 longshot, then the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. Winning Saturday’s Belmont would have made him just the 12th horse to win horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown since 1919. Instead, fans will have to settle settle for more sassy, humorous tweets from the @Ill_HaveAnother Twitter account.

He used the social network to address fans directly about Friday’s sad news and announce a press briefing:

I am out of the… Continue reading…

More About: sports, trending, Twitter

The racehorse I’ll Have Another has pulled out this weekend’s Belmont Stakes due to injury and will miss a chance at the sport’s highest achievement.

But his popular Twitter feed lives on.

I’ll Have Another, a three-year-old colt, won the Kentucky Derby in May as a 15-1 longshot, then the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. Winning Saturday’s Belmont would have made him just the 12th horse to win horse racing’s elusive Triple Crown since 1919. Instead, fans will have to settle settle for more sassy, humorous tweets from the @Ill_HaveAnother Twitter account.

He used the social network to address fans directly about Friday’s sad news and announce a press briefing:

I am out of the… Continue reading…

More About: sports, trending, Twitter

Brazil’s Surui tribe became the first indigenous group to receive validation for their carbon offsets project last month, after four years of collaboration with the Google Earth Outreach team.

With the help of Facebooktools such as Android smartphones, members of the Surui tribe measured the carbon stock of their lands in the Amazon Rainforest. The tribe members submitted a proposal to the Rainforest Alliance, which was approved last month, enabling the tribe to sell their carbon offsets on the global carbon market.

The approval makes the Surui’s project the first emmissions reduction effort in Brazil to be certified by both the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Com… Continue reading…

More About: android, Brazil, environment, google earth, Social Good, World

Brazil’s Surui tribe became the first indigenous group to receive validation for their carbon offsets project last month, after four years of collaboration with the Google Earth Outreach team.

With the help of Facebooktools such as Android smartphones, members of the Surui tribe measured the carbon stock of their lands in the Amazon Rainforest. The tribe members submitted a proposal to the Rainforest Alliance, which was approved last month, enabling the tribe to sell their carbon offsets on the global carbon market.

The approval makes the Surui’s project the first emmissions reduction effort in Brazil to be certified by both the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Com… Continue reading…

More About: android, Brazil, environment, google earth, Social Good, World

After getting our hands on more than three dozen Ultrabooks, tablets and plenty of other miscellany over an intense gadget-fueled week in Taipei, Computex is finally winding down, and we’re packing our bags for the 24-hour journey back to New York. There’s no question that Windows 8 stole the show, with hundreds of devices making an appearance both at flashy press events and on the exhibit floor — Release Preview in tow. We happened upon quite a few surprises on that front, including a touchscreen-based ASUS Zenbook UX21A and Intel’s prediction that the majority of next year’s Ultrabooks will be touch-enabled, along with the unique (and perhaps even slightly bizarre) TAICHI, which will change the way we interact with at least two clamshell models. We’ve barely scratched the surface here, however — you’ll find direct links to all of our Computex coverage just after the break.

Continue reading Computex 2012 wrap-up

Computex 2012 wrap-up originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During the “golden age” of video games, people like David Crane, Jordan Mechner, and Richard Garriott were recognized as some of the most important pioneers in the industry. But as that industry expanded and games became more complex and expensive to develop, the prominence of individual creators dwindled, replaced by a sprawling studio system comprised of enormous teams of artists, engineers, and designers. Listening to corporate executives and other talking heads this week at E3, one might begin to wonder: where is the new generation of video game creators, if not sharing the spotlight at the biggest industry event of the year?

It’s with this in mind that I looked through the various press emails filling my inbox this week. In each…

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After analyzing 17 million mentions of illness in Facebook posts and tweets (separating “Bieber fever” from actual fever) and plotting genuine ailment mentions on a map, founder of Sickweather, Graham Dodge, has noticed trends in how disease spreads throughout the United States.

For one thing, disease spreads most quickly between Hartford, Conn. and Washington D.C., an area he has dubbed “contagion alley.”

And it is impacted by big events like the Super Bowl. When the New York Giants played the New England Patriots in Indianapolis this February, Twitter mentions of illness in Indianapolis spiked, more than doubling those in demographically similar city Dayton, Ohio.

Several studies… Continue reading…

More About: disease, features, health, lifestyle, Social Media, Twitter

After analyzing 17 million mentions of illness in Facebook posts and tweets (separating “Bieber fever” from actual fever) and plotting genuine ailment mentions on a map, founder of Sickweather, Graham Dodge, has noticed trends in how disease spreads throughout the United States.

For one thing, disease spreads most quickly between Hartford, Conn. and Washington D.C., an area he has dubbed “contagion alley.”

And it is impacted by big events like the Super Bowl. When the New York Giants played the New England Patriots in Indianapolis this February, Twitter mentions of illness in Indianapolis spiked, more than doubling those in demographically similar city Dayton, Ohio.

Several studies… Continue reading…

More About: disease, features, health, lifestyle, Social Media, Twitter

Peter Molyneux’s first post-Lionhead game, Curiosity, holds a big mystery and now it promises DLC with a colossal price tag. The game — the first of 22 experiments — will reveal a secret to the gaming guinea pig who deals the final blow to a single black cube. Shortly after its release, chisels that pack a mightier punch to the monolith will arrive as DLC for those who long to crack the container open. Prices for the downloadable tools will start around $1 (59 pence) for an iron implement and reach up to roughly $78,000 (£50,000) for a one-of-a-kind diamond version that hits 100,000 times harder. Once the secret is revealed, 22 Cans will use social media to study how the winner proves the milestone and spreads the news. Curiosity is expected to drop in about six weeks for iOS and PC, but feel free to begin pondering the secret of life, the universe and everything that lies inside the digital fortune cookie.

Peter Molyneux divulges DLC details for Curiosity, we apply for a loan originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We spy 12 instruments throughout the clip: triangle, wood block, tambourine, bass drum, washboard stick, kazoo, recorder, bongos, ukulele, melodica, toy xylophone and tambourine.

“Call Me Maybe,” which hit number one on the iTunes singles chart and Billboard‘s Digital Songs chart in May, has been covered, lip-dubbed and danced to by countless athletes (see gallery below), musicians, digital versions of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, a public relations agency and many more people on YouTube.

Most recently, a mashup of… Continue reading…

More About: celebrities, Entertainment, jimmy fallon, Music, music videos, trending, viral videos

We spy 12 instruments throughout the clip: triangle, wood block, tambourine, bass drum, washboard stick, kazoo, recorder, bongos, ukulele, melodica, toy xylophone and tambourine.

“Call Me Maybe,” which hit number one on the iTunes singles chart and Billboard‘s Digital Songs chart in May, has been covered, lip-dubbed and danced to by countless athletes (see gallery below), musicians, digital versions of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, a public relations agency and many more people on YouTube.

Most recently, a mashup of… Continue reading…

More About: celebrities, Entertainment, jimmy fallon, Music, music videos, trending, viral videos

There’s a Galaxy S III with a quad-core chip, and there’s a Galaxy S III with 2GB of RAM. Never the twain shall meet? They reportedly will at SK Telecom: a comparison sheet leaked to Phone Arena has the South Korean carrier’s SHV-E210S variant combining the 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad with the 2GB of RAM that the dual-core versions receive as a consolation prize. It’s even supposed to keep LTE, which could suggest that Samsung isn’t wedded to Qualcomm for 4G in South Korea like it is for North America. The phone’s 4G support loses steam outside of its native country, and it gains an ever so slight amount of bulk, but we’re looking at what could be the best of both worlds for Samsung’s flagship. We have a hunch that a few foreigners might be eager for an import, or a surprise vacation to Seoul, when the E210S arrives in July.

Samsung Galaxy S III on SK Telecom mixes 2GB of RAM and quad-core, importers break out credit cards originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Several of Google’s recently-launched experimental features have come under scrutiny for what appear to be changes in its policy against paid placement. Specifically, Search Engine Land first noted the new Google Shopping, which replaces Google Product Search, would now accept payment for placement in results. Yesterday morning, an opinion piece on the Wall Street Journal criticized Google’s change in strategy as one which gives consumers the false idea that results are based on relevancy.

Google has just responded directly to the WSJ piece on its Policy blog, noting that the article contained several “inaccuracies.” Indeed, Google is correct that its new Shopping feature, which does now accept paid inclusion, remains distinct from…

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Connected travelers who can’t go without their mobile devices are facing associated fees that seem to be higher than ever — or maybe it’s because they’re using more data than ever before. Either way, travelers have found ways to get around the dreaded roaming charge, or at least, reduce it as much as possible.

Communications app textPlus surveyed 500 respondents who use their mobile devices when traveling both domestically and internationally. The company created the infographic below based on its findings.

SEE ALSO:… Continue reading…

More About: infographics, lifestyle, Mobile, Tablet, travel, trending

Perhaps E3 2012 will be remembered as the year that even Nintendo acknowledged the existence of smartphone gaming — if only begrudgingly so, dragged kicking and screaming into the early ’10s. It’s a brave new world here, a strange one in which everyone and their grandmother has become a gamer by default, carrying high powered portable computers in their pockets at all times. But even as all the major players took time out to give a nod to the ever enlarging juggernaut that is mobile gaming, its an element that still feels like a bit of a redheaded stepchild inside the Los Angeles Convention Center, where console gaming is still far and away the dominant force — it’s a presence relegated to brief mentions in larger press events and pushed to the sides of the convention floor.

It comes as no surprise, of course, that Nintendo didn’t dwell on the matter during its show opening keynote on Tuesday. The mere fact that company president Satoru Iwata made reference at all to mobile operating systems is something of a sea change for an executive who has thus far stubbornly refused to even “consider” developing for the Androids and iOSes of the world. And the news from Sunday doesn’t do much to shake that stance. While mobile operating systems were name checked, it was only in reference to users’ ability to access social information from the Wii U on their browser.

Continue reading E3 2012: not quite ready to go mobile

E3 2012: not quite ready to go mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From now until June 17th, Barnes & Noble is offering a Father’s Day promotion that will save US customers $20 when purchasing either a Nook Simple Touch or Nook Color with a MasterCard. The deal is available both online and at B&N’s retail locations. With the discount, the bookseller’s e-ink reader can be had for $79 — putting it on equal footing with Amazon’s cheapest Kindle — while the Nook Color drops to $149. In-store buyers will receive the discount via a printable coupon and web shoppers can expect an instant coupon code at checkout. Unfortunately neither the new Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight or Nook Tablet are part of the promotion. Still, if dad’s looking to transition into the world of ebooks, this sounds like a good time…

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We didn’t have a Vergecast at the normally scheduled time yesterday, but that doesn’t mean we’re not having one this week — in fact, it’s happening in just a few minutes.

The chat below is open now, so jump in. If you’d like to play The Vergecast Home Game, you can: Verge Bingo.

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India and the various powers that be on the Internet have had a bit of a contentious relationship for the past year or so. The primary issue has been censorship, in that the Indian government wants more of it and the giants of the tech world want no part. After originally filing suit against Microsoft, Google and Facebook in December of 2011, the Delhi High Court let Redmond loose from its litigative snare. Unfortunately for the Big G and our pal Zuck, they’re still on the hook for failing to block offensive content, particularly that of a religious nature. The Magistrate hearing the case will be issuing summons today, asking the global executives of Facebook and Google to come in and answer for their alleged crimes. So far there’s been no reaction from either company, but with both actively working to have the case dismissed we wouldn’t be surprised if any response amounted to a very diplomatic middle finger.

Indian court tells Google and Facebook execs to stop by, have a chat originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jun 2012 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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