Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of January 16, 2012

Refresh Roundup: week of January 16, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/refresh-roundup/

What’s this? If this is true, it looks like one of the jilted partners in the Sony Ericsson split is doing all it can to ruin the nice surprises planned for next month’s MWC. An image has appeared at Xperia Blog that purports to be of the ST25i Kumquat, which, if you’ve been paying attention is the cheapest of the three phones due in April listed on the leaked roadmap from a few days ago. The design language matches the Nozomi and the Xperia S we played with at CES, but the on-screen icons are clearly bigger: pointing us in the direction of this having a cheaper display (with a worse resolution) than its brothers. Don’t let that Sony Ericsson logo fool you either, the company’s producing versions that bear both branding, at least for this set of releases. We’re off to grab a microscope and see if we can’t glean any more facts from the snap.

[Thanks, Joseph]

Leaked Sony image: Is this the ST25i Kumquat? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/leaked-sony-image-st25i-kumquat/

President Obama may have been on Google+ since November, but the administration is now stepping up its presence on the social network even further in anticipation of next week’s State of the Union address and the forthcoming presidential campaign. It now has an official White House Google+ page, where it plans to post the usual news, photos and videos, and also host regular Hangout video chats. There’s no promises yet that the President himself will take part, but the White House says it will regularly have administration officials and policy experts take part in the conversations, which will also be streamed on YouTube and WhiteHouse.gov. Those interested can click the link below to add the page to their Circles.

The White House joins Google+, invites you to Hangout originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/white-house-google-plus-hangouts/

If you swing past your local Best Buy and pick up one of those new-fangled LG Smart TVs, you’ll find TouchTV’s news-clip collection platform available inside. That way you’ll be able to watch the trendiest (or at least the most watched) current-affairs clips without having to wait the twenty seconds or so before your rolling news channel of choice displays similar. TouchTV also announced today an iPad app that’ll let you grab those newsy clips from your Apple-based slate of choice. The app’s available gratis from the store (link below) and we’ve got the official words and pictures from the company about both products after the interval.
Jose Andrade contributed to this report.

Continue reading TouchTV comes to LG Smart TV, iPads: catch news clips at home, on the go

TouchTV comes to LG Smart TV, iPads: catch news clips at home, on the go originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/touchtv-comes-to-lg-smart-tv-ipads-catch-news-clips-at-home-o/

Pico projectors are an easy way to increase the screen real estate of your mobile phone, but what if you’d rather not carry one around in your pocket or bulk up your phone’s slim profile with a slip on solution? Well, a team of intrepid researchers may have come up with an elegant solution to your problem that can work with any smartphone and external display: virtual projection. The system works by using a central server that constantly takes screenshots of the external display and compares them with the images from the phone’s camera to track its location. It then replicates what’s on the handset’s screen, while allowing you to add multiple image windows and position and rotate them as you see fit. Additionally, multiple users can collaborate and virtually project pictures or videos onscreen at the same time. Intrigued? See it in action for yourself in the video after the break.

Continue reading Researchers turn your smartphone into a virtual projector

Researchers turn your smartphone into a virtual projector originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/researchers-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-virtual-projector/

This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still 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 January 16, 2012:

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of January 16, 2012

Mobile Miscellany: week of January 16, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/mobile-miscellany/

ASUS was plenty busy at CES last week, but it held back at least one product on us — the B23E. This 12.5-inch business laptop packs a Core i5 or i7, up to 8GB of RAM and a maximum 750GB hard drive in a magnesium-aluminum alloy case. Other expected Pro-series niceties are also in tow, including a fingerprint reader, spill-proof keyboard and an anti-shock mounted hard disk. Looking at the spec sheet though, it’s not all gravy for this 3.4-pound PC. For one ASUS doesn’t state how long it will last on a charge, but we can’t imagine the three-cell 4,400mAh battery is going to impress with its longevity. We’re also sad to see resolution top out at a pedestrian 1366 x 768. For more details hit up the product page at the source link.

Gallery: ASUSPRO B23E laptop

ASUS sneak attacks the business world with 12.5-inch B23E laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/asus-sneak-attacks-the-business-world-with-12-5-inch-b23e-laptop/

Not sure what to do with your old, outdated electronics? If you live within the European Union, getting rid of your e-waste may soon be as easy as dropping by the local electronics shop. In an effort to increase electronic waste collection from four kilograms per capita to 20, the European Parliament has approved plans that would require electronic retailers with a retail space of 400 square meters or larger to accept e-waste for disposal, free of charge. The new rules will be implemented over the next seven years, and are part of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive — a measure that also aims to limit illegal e-waste exports to developing countries. Between keeping your house uncluttered with old gadgets and keeping developing nations clean, what’s not to like?

European Union retailers to be required to accept e-waste without charge, says Parliament originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/european-union-retailers-required-to-accept-e-waste-without-fees/

Ever wanted a 3D digital copy of all those Little League trophies? Well, the NEK has whipped up something to lend a hand that’s a bit larger than another recent scanner. Enter the OrcaM, an Orbital Camera System capable of producing an accurate, digital 3D model of objects up to 80cm (about 31.5 inches) wide and weighing up to 100kg (around 220lbs). Making use of seven shooters simultaneously, the system photographs the object while projecting various light and shadow combinations in order to determine the ware’s geometry. The OrcaM is able to reproduce high-quality digital reproductions with a geometric accuracy less than millimeter (nearly .04 inches). As if that wasn’t enough, it produces complete color, texture and reflectivity maps so that every minute detail is accounted for. Once your to-be-copied object has been loaded, the OrcaM takes over and is automatic, churning out the completed rendering shortly after the requisite photos are taken. Hit the video up top for a look at the beast in action.

OrcaM sphere constructs detailed, digital 3D models of wares while you wait (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 05:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/orcam-sphere-constructs-detailed-digital-3d-models-of-wares-whi/

Frustrated by the performance of GPS on your current Sony Ericsson phone? Well, if you’ve got the latest software and a device carrying Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S2 or S3 processor, you’re in luck. Alongside bright new darlings like the Xperia S and Xperia ion, all will be able to hook up to GLONASS, Russia’s very own interpretation of GPS. Support on another global positioning network will increase the total of satellites orbiting around you from 31 to 55 — more ways to find exactly where you got lost. GLONASS support has already launched on smartphone luminaries such as the iPhone 4S and the pocket-stretching Galaxy Note, but we’re very happy to hear that the extra functionality will arrive on older Xperia handsets. According to the developer’s own testing, the GLONASS assistance often improved accuracy by as much as 50 percent and should similarly reduce the chances of us being outed as map illiterates. You can grab more info on all the GLONASS goodness at the source below.

Snapdragon-toting Sony smartphones to get extra global positioning help from The Other GPS originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/snapdragon-sony-smartphone-glonass-gps/