Yeah, we thought netbooks were old news too, but if they all start strapping up with the latest in 4G connectivity, we might have to give them another look. The Samsung N350 is just such a machine, with dual-mode LTE and HSPA+ built in. You won’t be surprised that almost everything else is par for the affordable laptop market course: a dual-core Atom N550 CPU, that boilerplate 1,024 x 600 resolution on a 10.1-inch matte screen, 250GB of storage, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, a multicard reader, and a trifecta of USB ports. The basic wireless options are keeping up with modernity, however, with 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 on board, both of which are nice to see. The 3-cell battery should last up to 6.7 hours and the whole package is expected to retail for €429 ($553) in Germany this autumn. You can probably expect a rebadge under the Go label for the US and a relatively swift launch over here as well.

Continue reading Samsung N350 throws LTE and HSPA+ into an intriguing new netbook proposition

Samsung N350 throws LTE and HSPA+ into an intriguing new netbook proposition originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chad, Angie, and Marc show you how to make a solar charger for your cell phone using only the technology contained in a solar-powered garden light, in this clip from ‘It’s Effin’ Science.’

Reviews are starting to trickle out for Pansonic’s LX3 successor, the DMC-LX5, and so far they all seem to echo similar sentiment. The form factor hearkens back to its Micro Four Thirds darling GF1, at least from the top, with “dinky buttons” (in CNET UK’s words) on the back reminding you of its point-and-shoot bloodline. The pictures are solid if not characteristically warm — and the ability to simultaneously produce RAW and JPEG files is a nice touch — as is the choice of either Motion JPEG or AVCHD Lite video. The universal issue with this camera is the price; that £449.99 tag (the equivalent of $691 in US currency) doesn’t quite seem to match the offerings, especially when it’s about on par with entry-level DSLRs with interchangeable lenses (albeit without the slim look). As PhotographyBLOG puts it, Panny’s gotta hard case to make for a camera “that looks, at first glance to be very similar to a £299 model.” Hey, a hardware switch for changing the aspect ratio (just above lens barrel; 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, or 1:1) doesn’t come cheap. Much more detail can be found in the reviews below.

Read – PhotographyBLOG
Read – CNET UK
Read – Pocket-lint

Lumix DMC-LX5 review roundup: great hardware for a not-so-great price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Thanks, Alasdair]

MIT app turns your Android phone into a supercomputer… of sorts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not quite sure what to make of this, as our first reaction is to label it a fan made render and move on. But it’s a very detailed render, so let’s hear this one out in between bites of freshly grilled burger (or whatever you do to celebrate Labor Day; we think more working is an appropriate course of action, but to each his or her own). So what you see surfaced on the Digital Photography Review forums is an apparent render of the Samsung NX100 and a diagram pictured after the break — labeled by number but missing the complementary key. We still don’t know much about the forum poster nor the images’ origins, but later on he or she did provide supposed dimensions and some display specifications: 4.74 x 2.8 x 1.36 inches, 9.95 ounces, an external GPS receptor, an external EVF with 201K resolution, and a (non-articulating) display that’s 921K AMOLED. We’re intrigued to say the least, but nothing tangible at the moment.

Continue reading Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface

Alleged Samsung NX100 pics and specs surface originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tapani Kaskinen is Nokia’s Senior Comms Manager, so it’s fitting that he’d be the first person from the company to communicate a solid release date for its long-awaited N8 handset. The gent in question told Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti that advance orders of the N8 will “begin shipping 30 September.” Bear in mind we’re chewing through a machine translation here, but that part’s pretty unmistakable. It also meshes perfectly with earlier speculation surrounding Nokia purchasing Google AdWords — that indicated a one-week exclusive starting on September 23rd for Nokia’s UK online store, which, if you do the math, again points to a wide release at the end of the month. We asked Nokia about it ourselves and they’re remaining mum on the matter, but chances are looking pretty good that October will start with the N8 finally in eager users’ hands.

Nokia N8 launches September 30, says senior manager originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, there little guy! That’s the Toshiba AC100 — an Android 2.1 smartbook with Toshiba’s custom user interface — on show in the UK, where you can now grab one up. The 10.1-inch, 1.9-pounder has yet to show its face anywhere near the US, but as for specs it’s got a 1GHz Tegra 250 SoC, a 32GB SSD, 512MB of DDR2 memory, 802.11n WiFi, optional 3G, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, and an HDMI port. While it’s listed on Amazon you still can’t actually order one of these bad boys stateside, but if you’re in the UK, you can grab one up for £292.52 (almost $450) for the non-3G model. Video of the little guy in action back in June is below.

Continue reading Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom

Toshiba AC100 Android smartbook hits the United Kingdom originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like the mystery of Nokia’s Symbian^3 slider may soon be solved — Reuters is reporting that the company will introduce its new “flagship” E7 smartphone at its Nokia World event in London next week, and it says that the device will pack both a “large” touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard. That’s further backed up by the existence of an XML file on Nokia’s own site, which seemingly confirms that the E7 does indeed run Symbian^3, and that it boasts a 640 x 360 display along with that QWERTY keyboard. Not much more than that at the moment, but those previous leaks suggest that we’re basically looking at a slider version of the Nokia N8.

Nokia said to be launching E7 smartphone next week originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We didn’t get to hear them for ourselves at IFA 2010, and it sounds like we missed out — a pair of publications are already showering Sleek Audio’s nigh-bulletproof SA7 buds with praise. The tightly-woven carbon fiber casing may look stylish, but both SlashGear and TrustedReviews were even more impressed by the sound, calling the combination of dual-armature drivers and one-piece aluminum housing “more precise” and “stonkingly good” respectively. Both noted hugely powerful bass that sounded fantastic alongside the trebles and mids, rather than drowning them out, and high frequencies that remained comfortable to listen to even at higher volume — a mark of excellence, to be sure. Of course, one typically expects quality audio when slapping four Benjamins down — we’ll have to hear how these stack up against other audiophile buds.

Sleek Audio’s SA7 earphones briefly tested, dubbed ’stonkingly good’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solar farms are swell and all, but they aren’t exactly fit for laboratories or studio apartments. Thanks to new discoveries by gurus at the University of Birmingham, though, we could be on our way to a far more diminutive method of creating clean energy. As the story goes, we could soon be using microbes to transform wastes in metals into energy. The team managed to pinpoint Hydrogenase enzymes and BioPd in their research, which they believe can be used as catalysts for the treatment of persistent pollutants. The overriding goal, however, is to “develop a one-step technology that allows for the conversion of metallic wastes into high value catalysts for green chemistry and clean energy generation,” but it’s difficult to say at this point how close they are to realizing it. The best news? This is bound to start a new rash of Cash 4 Gold commercials.

Scientists using metallic wastes to generate clean energy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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