gadgets

Samsung Electronics Co. jumped to a record in Seoul trading after surging smartphone sales boosted profit and helped Asia’s largest consumer-electrics company keep pace with Apple Inc.

I already have a lifetime supply of notebooks, but I'll be buying these Lego Moleskines just in case there's a mortality cure coming down the pipes.

Research In Motion Ltd.’s Thorsten Heins, five days into his job as chief executive officer, pledged to regain lost ground in the U.S. smartphone market and said he held talks with rivals eager to license its software.

Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social-networking service, is aiming to file for its initial public offering as early as next week, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Whenever there’s a new MLB The Show game, PS3-toting baseball fans are excited. They can’t wait to get their hands on the latest roster, the always-improved graphics and control system, and the surprisingly fluid voice-over commentary. But this year, there’s another reason to be interested in the new entry, and it has to do with the fact that the game is due out on two systems.

Aaron Luke, a designer on the game, has confirmed that users will be able to save their games to the cloud. This includes Franchise, Road to the Show, and Season modes. This means users can pick up where they left off at a friend’s house, and they won’t lose any data if their PS3 hard drive happens to malfunction. That’s a pretty neat and handy feature.

There’s another interesting part of this feature, though. MLB 12 The Show is also coming out on PlayStation Vita, and save data will be transferrable between the two systems. So Road the Show mode will actually be playable, well, on the road. The MLB “The Show” franchise has long been heralded as the most realistic baseball simulation series in the gaming industry. It’s also been a favorite for Sony to showcase its new technology, including HD graphics, 3D functionality, and now cloud saving and PlayStation Vita compatibility. The game is due out on both platforms on March 6.

[via PlayStation Blog]

Sony’s MLB 12 The Show will have cloud support on PS3, Vita is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

How do you solve a crime in 30 minutes or less? All you need is a cop who knows his tech. Police Officer Robert Garland was able to successfully track down an iPhone thief and return the device to its rightful owner thanks to his quick thinking and his knowledge of the app “Find My iPhone.” It all went down yesterday in New York City.

It happened at around 7:00 PM. A cashier at luxury clothing and accessories store Tuci Italia was taking a break when a man walked into the store and pointed a gun at her. Presumably hoping to make as quick a getaway as possible, he demanded she hand over her iPhone which was in plain sight. The cashier rushed outside, and as fate would have it Officer Garland, an Apple enthusiast, was right there.

Garland quickly opened his Find My iPhone app, punched in the victim’s Apple ID, and instantly pinpointed the suspect about 10 blocks away. He and his partner hopped into their cruiser and continued to follow the spot on the app until it stopped near a local supermarket. At that time, Garland knew what to do – he pushed the “Play Sound” button on the app and, like clockwork, a pinging sound was emitted about 20 feet away. The victim, who was not identified, couldn’t believe she got her iPhone back so quickly. Good thing she happened to run into a police officer who knows Apple. Garland and his wife both have iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers at home.

[via NY Times]

Apple iPhone robbery thwarted by tech-savvy cop is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you thought that signing up for the premium Call of Duty Elite service on your PS3 would get you access to DLC the same time as your Xbox 360 counterparts, well, Activision has no sympathy for you. The publisher says it never made any claims to that effect, and says anyone who thought that was the case “convinced themselves that it would happen because they wanted it to happen.”

Activision has a very well-known, iron-clad contract with Microsoft that guarantees Call of Duty add-on content will be released first on the Xbox 360, and then trickle down to other platforms later. Microsoft paid Activision a whole bunch of money for this privilege. But then Activision launched a service called Call of Duty Elite, which gives gamers exclusive access to special in-game events, content, and more. One of the biggest selling points is that Elite members are the very first to access new DLC packs – but only on Xbox 360. That is exactly what happened this week, when Modern Warfare 3′s first DLC pack was released.

Some PS3 gamers believed that Elite benefits were universal across both platforms because in the literature about Elite, it does not distinguish between Xbox 360 players and PS3 players. Nevertheless, Activision’s Dan Amrich wrote in a blog took the counter position – the literature also never specifically says that the benefits are the same.

“It was never one of the things listed in the official benefits chart; it was never promised by any representative of Activision, Call of Duty, Elite, or its developers. Honestly? I think gamers just convinced themselves that it would happen because they wanted it to happen. That makes sense, but it doesn’t make it true,” said Amrich.

[via One of Swords]

Activision says PS3 Call of Duty Elite confusion is not its fault is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It was perhaps one of the biggest hopes in the advancement of robot-assisted medical surgery, but expectations have been too high, according to a new report from the research journal Urology. We’re talking about surgery for prostate removal, for those afflicted with prostate cancer. The study shows outcomes of the robotic procedure are not that different than those done by human hands.

It’s a fascinating thing to think about. Every day, doctors get in the operating room and instead of sitting at the patient’s side, he is at a computer console, operating the controls of robotic machinery that performs the delicate operation. Ever since the first successful surgery of its kind was performed several years ago, there were all kinds of hopes that patients would have extremely limited recovery time and a quicker return to their sex life.

Duke University Medical Center prostate surgeon Judd W. Moul, however, says that has not been the case. Moul, who led the Urology study, said patients who had the robot-assisted surgery were actually less satisfied in the long run. This, he conjectures, is because they have very high expectations. 89% of prostate cancer patients who had the robotic surgery said they expected to be out of the hospital in less than one day and to be back in perfect physical order within six months. And while Moul believes that is possible, the expertise in performing the surgery just isn’t there yet.

[via Vancouver Sun]

Urology journal finds robotic prostate surgery not meeting expectations is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The cheaper, Wi-Fi-only version of Motorola’s latest and greatest Xyboard tablet has begun shipping. Pre-orders for the units are now being fulfilled, and the product pages on Verizon’s website now show them as being available to purchase. The new products, which were originally scheduled for a January 18 launch, are geared at consumers who want a high-end tablet but don’t care about being able to take it online any time they want.

 

What could have potentially been one of the best moves for the Xyboard is that its official name is the Droid Xyboard. Unfortunately, most people just end up dropping the Droid moniker, and secondly that moniker has lost a lot of its value. Motorola should have captured that brand momentum with its first tablet, the Xoom. It isn’t making nearly as big a splash now.

Nevertheless, the availability of cheaper Xyboards should spark some new interest in the company’s second big attempt to cash in on the tablet war. There are four versions of the device, broken up into 10.1-inch models and 8.2-inch models, each with either 16 GB or 32 GB. Prices range from $400 to $600, a modest decrease from the cost of their 4G LTE-equipped counterparts.

[via Unwired View]

Motorola Wi-Fi-only Droid Xyboard is now available is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Optimus 3D phone didn’t gain a huge amount of traction but it did set an important milestone as a flagship glasses-free 3D handset. And LG is poised to push that legacy forward with a phone we knew now only by its code-name, the CX2. Now, according to a new report, it looks like the shelf name might be the 3D Max.

This would make it the first smartphone with the term “3D” at the front of its name. The insider information comes from Israeli website GSM-Israel, which has a solid track record of leaking details that are later proven true. Based on earlier information we’ve seen, the phone will have a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch display, and a built-in 3D camera for still shots and video.

Of course, the tough part of selling a 3D phone right now is the lack of content. Sprint put out an aggressive campaign for its Evo 3D device that encouraged users to create their own content with the built-in 3D camera. Third-party app makers have been less enthusiastic, but perhaps at next month’s Mobile World Congress, where the 3D Max is expected to be fully unveiled, we’ll see advancements in this area.

[Timeline]

[via Pocket Now]

LG’s Optimus 3D successor reported to be called the 3D Max is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Despite its delicious name, Ice Cream Sandwich has left some users feeling sour. The latest example is Asus’s ambitious Transformer Prime tablet, which recently upgraded to the latest and greatest version of Android. The only problem is handfuls of users started complaining that after the update, the device started locking up and requiring a manual reset.

The Transformer Prime is Asus’s big attempt to gain momentum in the tablet race, and its major selling point is the ability to turn into what is essentially a fully functional laptop. It’s also making waves as the first tablet to get the ICS nod, but of course there are always risks to being the guinea pig.

Asus has acknowledged that a problem exists, and the company’s technical marketing manager Gary Key was quoted as saying that the team “hope[s] to have a fix available in early February.” This isn’t the first time we’ve seen ICS upgrades present a problem. The Nexus S stopped its update process, and although no one confirmed there were problems with the update file, those who did manage to upgrade experienced similar problems. The Galaxy Nexus, which comes pre-loaded with Ice Cream Sandwich, has not suffered a similar outcry.

[via The Verge]

Asus Transformer Prime Ice Cream Sandwich problems will be fixed next month is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you were waiting for the day when you could watch Family Guy on your iPad, pop Indiana Jones into your DVD player, and wait for the latest Call of Duty game to appear in your mailbox, all while only logging into one online account, your dreams have been quashed. Specifically, the Call of Duty part. Video streaming giant Netflix has dismissed its plans to add video game titles to its mail-order rental library.

The announcement came during this week’s quarterly earnings conference call. The call had an ultimately positive vibe to it, as Netflix managed to gain back 600,000 of the 800,000 subscribers it lost in the previous quarter. The quarter in question was the first time the online company saw a dip in its user base.

The last time Netflix entertained the idea of adding video games to its mix was in October, when CEO Reed Hastings was quoted as saying there were still internal discussions about its viability. But the truth is Gamefly has a very strong stranglehold on that market, and there is already competition from Blockbuster Online, as well as Redbox kiosks. For streaming content, which is the direction Netflix is clearly heading, there’s OnLive, and there’s no way Netflix would invest in the resources necessary to compete in that nascent market. So for now, your remote lives with Netflix and your joystick lives with Gamefly. Those streams will not cross any time soon.

[via USA Today]

Netflix video game rental idea is axed is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Yahoo! Meme, Yahoo! Mim, Yahoo! AppSpot, Yahoo! Deals, Yahoo! Shopping, and Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search have all been removed from Apple’s App Store. And if you’re like most people, you never even looked at these apps in the first place. That’s exactly the point. It’s part of Yahoo’s strategy to rebuild its mobile presence from the ground up.

That list only refers to apps that were available for the iPhone and iPad. The former search leader also took down a handful of apps for Android. It’s a quick glance at Yahoo’s previous “kitchen sink” strategy when it came to mobile apps, and it clearly did not work. In the rare chance you happened to download any of these apps already, it’s unclear if they will continue to work. The complete list of discontinued apps, which totals 10, is as follows:

• Yahoo! Meme (iPad and iPhone) • Yahoo! Mim (iPad) • Yahoo! Answers (Android) • Yahoo! AppSpot (Android and iPhone) • Yahoo! Deals (iPhone) • Yahoo! Finance (BlackBerry) • Yahoo! Movies (Android) • Yahoo! News (Android) • Yahoo! Shopping (iPhone) • Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search (iPad and iPhone)

This trimming process comes as Yahoo is trying to rebrand its mobile image. Before the smartphone age really took off, Yahoo had really started to cement mobile as its new forte. But just like everything else in Yahoo’s history, it failed to keep up with the changing environment and now it barely has a voice in the Android and iPhone world. The company says to expect new mobile products in 2012, “especially in areas ripe for innovation that build on Yahoo!’s strengths, such as companion experiences for TV like IntoNow, new ways to experience personalized media like Livestand, and some of our most popular and useful mobile apps like Yahoo! Mail, Messenger, Sportacular and Flickr.”

[via Yahoo Search Blog]

Yahoo mobile apps taken down, no one notices is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook Inc., the world’s largest social-networking service, is aiming to file for its initial public offering as early as next week, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

From an article by Jake Brodkin at Ars Technica:

"Twitter has taken the unusual step of making DMCA takedown notices public, in partnership with Chilling Effects, a project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and several universities. The site shows 4,410 cease and desist notices dating back to November 2010."

Here's the database on Chillingeffects.org. (Twitter's effort to expand partnership with Chilling Effects on this issue and the "country-specific censorship" policy is, IMO, most laudable.)

Harvard University has teamed up with an organization called the New Enterprise Associates to create an initiative that hopes to keep great innovators in college before they run out and make millions. This, of course, is exactly what happened with Mark Zuckerberg and fellow software architect Bill Gates. The problem is all the good schools are in New England but all the dough is out on the West Coast. But no more, perhaps.

The new initiative is called the Experiment Fund, and it will award amounts of $250,000 to $500,000 to as many as six start-ups in the brainy Massachusetts area that houses Hardvard and MIT, among many others. While anyone is eligible it was Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences dean Cherry Murray who co-founded the project.

New Enterprise Associates’s Patrick Chung, a venture capitalist, was quoted as saying, “There has been an envy of the left coast. Now, these talented engineers don’t have to leave when they reach the boundaries of the university where the ideas are formed … They can walk right out of class and into a place that can make those start-ups real.” Then again, if you watched The Social Network, you know there’s a lot of reasons to go to Silicon Valley aside from the fact that you might get a bit of funding. Nevertheless, it’s always nice to see initiatives that promote enterprising start-ups.

[via All Things D]

Harvard wants the next Zuckerberg to stay at Harvard is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Research In Motion Ltd.’s Thorsten Heins, five days into his job as chief executive officer, pledged to regain lost ground in the U.S. smartphone market and said he held talks with rivals eager to license its software.

Samsung continues to send out conflicting signals about when its future flagship phone, the Galaxy S III might be released. Earlier today, Samsung's Senior marketing VP, Younghee Lee, said that the company was "still reviewing" options. At the same time, a probable reference to the phone has since shown up on Samsung's UAE support page as the GT-i9300....

As we wrap up the last full work week of January, we saw a big chunk of mobile news today. For example, watch your back if you have an Android device because the Android Market is having its largest malware infection ever. If the iPhone is more your style, but you’re stuck on T-Mobile, you might be pleased to know that the magenta-colored carrier plans to start boosting unlocked iPhone support at the end of the month.

Featured: Don’t miss our review of LG’s newest Verizon 4G LTE phone, the Spectrum. Also, if you’re into cool automotive technology, you have to check out our hands-on report of Mercedez-Benz’s tricked-out new mbrace2 platform. It’s pretty dope. And if that isn’t enough Mercedez-Benz goodness for you, we also took a ride with an interior concept that is pretty mind-boggling.

Gaming: The PlayStation Vita launch is less than a month away and today we learned details about what bundled goodies to expect when the anticipated device finally goes on sale. Check out the details right here. Our Chris Burns also took a look at how Steam’s emerging mobile platform might capture a whole new audience.

Other Stuff: For all you science nerds, here’s an interesting piece – NEOShield international asteroid threat-reduction group forming now. We also found a scoop on a mysterious ZTE tablet that was outed by the FCC. If iPad news is more your style, check out this: Blue Spark Digital condenser microphone for iPad revealed and detailed.

It’s been a busy day, but we’ll be back on Monday night for another roundup of the best stories of the day right here on Slashgear.

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: January 27, 2012 is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear. © 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.