Tobii has managed to impress quite a few folks with its eye-tracking technology — most recently in the form of the “Eye Asteroids” arcade game — and it looks like Intel has been paying particularly close attention to the company. As Computer Sweden reports, Intel (or Intel Capital, specifically) has now shelled out roughly $21 million to buy a ten percent stake in the Swedish company, which hopes to soon see its eye-tracking system used in everything from desktops and laptops to phones and even vehicles. Presumably, having Intel at the table will give it a considerable boost in those endeavors.

Intel drops $21 million for ten percent stake in eye-tracking firm Tobii originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/intel-drops-21-million-for-ten-percent-stake-in-eye-tracking-fi/

While the fires that burn inside the hearts of Sidekick fans will probably never go out, the venerable Android slider is being put out to graze. T-Mobile announced last week that the Sidekick 4G was to be discontinued, but it’s now added that it’s not leaving that pervasive brand behind. In a statement to The Verge, the carrier affirmed that there would be future devices, but didn’t reveal anything more substantive on new handsets in the pipeline. We’ll keep twiddling our QWERTY-addled thumbs until more details arrive.

T-Mobile retires Sidekick 4G, but brand will return originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/t-mobile-retires-sidekick-4g-but-brand-will-return/

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has announced that the company’s Dragon craft has a NASA-approved date to dock with the International Space Station. With the original mission postponed from November last year, it’s now penciled in for launch on April 30th, arriving at the ISS’s front door on May 3rd, packed to the gills with fresh supplies. If successful, it’ll strengthen Elon Musk’s case for SpaceX to send a man into space… and beyond.

SpaceX Dragon will dock with the ISS in May, for realsies this time originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/spacex-dragon-dock-iss/

Exactly one month ago, Apple pulled back the kimono revealing its next Mac OS release would be called Mountain Lion upon its debut this summer. It also let eager developers registered in the Mac Developer Program partake in the fun a little early. For the latter camp, Cupertino’s back with a second helping today, aptly named Developer Preview 2. No word yet on what’s changed in build 12A154q — a scant twenty-six builds from the 12A128p original — as the accompanying release notes have yet to be updated. But rest assured we’ll circle back with anything of interest when they do.

Mountain Lion Developer Preview 2 hits Apple’s Developer website, brings more roar to your Friday originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/apple-releases-mountain-lion-developer-preview-2/

Sure, you can take us on our word that the new iPad really is that much sharper than its predecessor — or, you can opt for a more scientific approach, and peek at that Retina display under a microscope. Our own Richard Lai slid his 64GB WiFi iPad under a USB scope, going far beyond the naked eye for a close-up look at those gorgeous high-density subpixels. As you can imagine, it’s impossible to distinguish one dot from the next when you’re looking at a cool three million pixels packed tightly within a 9.7-inch slab, but that view clears up quite nicely under a 230x microscope. What you’ll see is that those tiny red, green and blue dots are now significantly smaller, when compared to the iPad 2. That means text that’s easily legible without a pinch, smooth icons and far sharper pictures. There’s a dramatic improvement for sure, but is that new display alone enough to justify the upgrade for you? A quick click through the gallery below should help clear things up.

Gallery: The new iPad’s LCD under the microscope

Richard Lai contributed to this report.

Under the microscope: a closer look at the new iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/apple-ipad-retina-display-microscope/

What’s in a name? Or, more importantly, what’s in a digit? Would that which we call an iPad by any number less than 2 be less sweet? That’s the question Apple posed for us indirectly when it unveiled the new iPad and relegated its future slates (and, presumably, phones) to a numeral-free future. And that new slate? It’s much the same as the old one, with a slightly more chipper processor at its (quad) core and support for both Verizon and ATT’s fancy new LTE networks.

But there’s one bigger change here, one that will ripple across the industry as each manufacturer struggles to keep up in this ever-accelerating market. That feature is the iPad’s new 2048 x 1536 Retina display. It’s the best display ever featured on a tablet, probably the best display ever on a mobile device, but is that enough to keep this tablet ahead of the pack? Believe it or not, the answer is yes.

Gallery: iPad (2012) review

Continue reading iPad review (2012)

iPad review (2012) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/apple-ipad-review-2012/

The rapid modernization of China shouldn’t really come as a shock anymore. But, you might be a bit surprised to hear that the venerable IDC is predicting the world’s most populous country will soon surpass the US in smartphone shipments. The research agency is predicting the People’s Republic will account for 20.7 percent of the global smartphone market by the end of 2012, narrowly edging out the US by 0.1 percent. That gap is only expected to grow over the next several years as mobile broadband becomes more prevalent in the country and it continues to urbanize. Check out the PR after the break for more details.

Continue reading China may ship more smartphones than the the US this year

China may ship more smartphones than the the US this year originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/china-may-surpass-us-in-smartphone-shipments/

Sony has already confirmed that we won’t be seeing a next-generation PlayStation at this year’s E3 trade show, and now Microsoft has also come out and dampened any expectations about a new Xbox possibly making its debut. In a statement published by Kotaku (following a report on Twitter from Bloomberg’s Dina Bass), a Microsoft spokesperson says flatly that “while we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon.” The statement goes on to say that “2012 is all about Xbox 360,” before rattling off a list of milestones and some of the big titles planned for release this year. That leaves Nintendo with the stage to itself hardware-wise, which will presumably be showing off more of its next-generation console, the Wii U.

Microsoft says there will be ‘no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon’ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/microsoft-says-there-will-be-no-talk-of-new-xbox-hardware-at-e3/

This American Life is airing a new episode today titled “Retraction.” The title and show are a direct response to the January 6th edition of the popular public radio program titled “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory,” an adaptation of a one-man show that helped put Cupertino’s involvement with Foxconn back in the public spotlight. “Regrettably,” the show’s producers write in the description of this week’s episode, “we have discovered that one of our most popular episodes was partially fabricated.” The hour-long show has been dedicated to clearing up some of the misconceptions, including an interview with Mike Daisey to discover “why he misled This American Life during the fact-checking process.” For his part, Daisey responded on his personal blog, explaining, “What I do is not journalism.” Daisey adds:

My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge. It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity.

An MP3 file of the episode will be made available for download on Sunday.

‘This American Life’ issues retraction episode over Foxconn report originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/this-american-life-issues-retraction-episode-over-foxconn-repo/

This American Life is airing a new episode today titled “Retraction.” The title and show are a direct response to January 6th edition of the popular public radio program titled “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory,” an adaptation of a one-man show that helped put Cupertino’s involvement with Foxconn back in the public spotlight. “Regrettably,” the show writes in the description of this week’s episode, “we have discovered that one of our most popular episodes was partially fabricated.” The hour-long show has been dedicated to clearing up some of the misconceptions, including an interview with Mike Daisey to discover “why he misled This American Life during the fact-checking process.” For his part, Daisey responded on his personal blog, explaining, “What I do is not journalism.” Daisey adds,

My show is a theatrical piece whose goal is to create a human connection between our gorgeous devices and the brutal circumstances from which they emerge. It uses a combination of fact, memoir, and dramatic license to tell its story, and I believe it does so with integrity.

An MP3 download of the episode will be made available on Sunday.

‘This American Life’ issues retraction episode over FoxConn report originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/16/this-american-life-issues-retraction-episode-over-foxconn-repo/