It's an age-old problem: do we clamor for a company to ship a product that's not ready, or do we swallow delays with grace as it aims to deliver when things are good and ready? Such a choice has to be made when it comes to Automatic, the California-based startup which had originally hoped to start shipping its automotive dongle + app platform at the end of this month. Those (including yours truly) who pre-ordered on day one received an email last night delivering the news that things were running a bit behind schedule. The hardware itself is actually already being manufactured, but stellar components are only a piece of the total puzzle. The software -- an iPhone app, in this instance -- still needs more time in the proverbial oven, and now we're being told that packages won't ship until "the end of August."

A three-month hiccup is nothing to scoff at, and Automatic seemingly knows it. In order to sate those who were hoping to use the $70 product during their upcoming summer road trips, the company is giving early pre-orderers the option to beta test the app as it stands today. For those who agree, they'll receive their hardware in mid-June, but they'll be forced to use it with a version of the app that "lacks a few features like Crash Alert and support for multiple cars and users." We'll be keeping a close eye as the situation develops, and will definitely endeavor to pass along a review just as soon as we're able. If you're curious, we've embedded the email in full just after the break.

Filed under: Transportation

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Source: Automatic

It's surely not the first contraption to bring an iDevice to a weapon, but the Inteliscope does appear to be one of the first to take itself seriously. It's designed to secure an iPhone 4 / 4S / 5 or iPod touch to any firearm with a Picatinny (Mil-STD-1913) or Weaver tactical rail, enabling shooters to peek around corners with no head exposure. Naturally, the mount itself wouldn't be all that attractive without an accompanying app. The software portion of the equation offers up custom crosshairs, a 5x digital zoom, video recording capabilities, ballistics / firearm data, a built-in compass and a shot timer. There's also a flashlight and strobe feature, information about local prevailing winds and a constant check on your location. Folks interested in pre-ordering can do so at the source link for $69.99, with initial shipments expected to head out in June.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

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Source: Inteliscope

You know what'll go perfectly with that waterproof Bluetooth speaker ball that a Billy Corgan doppelganger recommended a few years back? That odd tube you're undoubtedly fixated on above. That's the Ultimate Ears UE Boom, and those people underneath are presumably blitzed from a day of raving at [insert EDM festival here]. Parent company Logitech is calling this thing the "world's first social music player," but last we checked, it's not capable of tweeting whatever you're listening to. Instead, it's seemingly engineered "to help you rage, riot, party and play the music you love, out loud." Seriously -- that's in the description.

In order to do so, there's a Bluetooth radio within, NFC support, a 15-hour rechargeable battery and an exterior that'll turn away light splashes. Of note, you can wirelessly link two UE Booms together using an associated Android or iOS app to play them in either stereo-to-stereo mode or traditional left / right stereo mode. It's expected to hit US and European shores later this month for $199.99, which means you too can take weird shots of yourself holding it at frat parties in the very, very near future.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

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Source: Ultimate Ears

Just as we knew it would, MSI has formally announced pricing for its newfangled GX70 and GX60 gaming laptops -- the world's first machines to ship with AMD's Richland A10-5750M (2.5GHz - 3.5GHz) within. The 17.3-inch GX70 offers up a 1,920 x 1,080 native display resolution, AMD's Radeon HD 8970M on the graphics front, a 750GB hard drive, 8GB of DDR3 memory, a Blu-ray Disc drive, Bluetooth 4.0 and Killer's E2200 networking technology. You'll also get a SDXC card slot, HDMI 1.4 socket, 720p webcam, a 9-cell battery -- likely good for about 89 seconds of use -- a backlit keyboard and a frame that's 2.17-inches thick and 8.6 pounds. If none of that frightens you, you can plan on parting ways with $1,399.99 to call one your own. The (slightly) more petite GX60 boasts a 15.6-inch panel (still 1080p, though), a 7.7 pound frame and a $1,299.99 price tag. Otherwise, the specifications are essentially identical from its big brother, and both should be shipping any moment now.

Filed under: Laptops

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Source: MSI

Speed. It's a movie. It's a drug. And it's also something that throngs of internet users the world over cannot get enough of. Thankfully, the wizards at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology have figured out a way to satisfy the unsatisfiable, announcing this week a world record in the area of wireless data transmission. Researchers were able to achieve 40Gbit/sec at 240GHz over a distance of one kilometer, essentially matching the capacity of optical fiber... but, you know, without the actual tether.

The goal here, of course, isn't to lower your ping times beyond where they are already; it's to give rural communities across the globe a decent shot at enjoying broadband. Distances of over one kilometer have already been covered by using a long range demonstrator, which the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology set up between two skyscrapers as part of the project "Millilink". There's no clear word on when the findings will be ported over to the commercial realm, but given the traction we're seeing in the white spaces arena, we doubt you'll have to wait long.

Filed under: Science, Internet

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Via: Physorg

Source: Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics

It's hardly a new tactic -- teasing music lovers with a stream of a new album prior to its on-sale date -- but Pandora's getting into that business in an official way today. Not content with letting iTunes drink the whole of said milkshake, Pandora Premieres will allow users to preview upcoming album releases in their entirety before they go on sale. The new station will reportedly feature both mainstream and emerging artists, with albums to hit the Pandora airwaves "up to one week prior to the scheduled US launch date." Listeners can enjoy these early album releases simply by adding the Pandora Premieres station, which will be updated weekly with new releases. Better still, users will be able to replay it as much as they'd like, or listen to bits of pieces of it as they choose. If you'd like to give it a look, head to your Pandora player and search for "Pandora Premieres."

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet

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Source: Pandora

How much? When? Where? Who cares? If you aren't exactly interested in knowing how much the impending Xbox One will cost you -- let alone when it'll actually hit your doorstep -- you can sign up to be notified of your opportunity to pre-order the console right now. To be clear, this isn't a sign-up for a pre-order. It's just a sign-up to be notified of pre-orders officially opening up. So really, what's to lose? Hit the source link below in order to share your email address, and you'll get a $10 Microsoft online store credit for your trouble. (Or, you can hit the Amazon link for those needing an excuse to make better use of their Prime subscription.)

Update: Well, it was nice while it lasted. As spotted by Arlondiluthel, Microsoft's pre-order page now says "we're no longer giving out a $10 store credit, but you can still sign up to be notified of Xbox One availability."

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

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Source: Microsoft, Major Nelson (Twitter), Amazon

In all honesty, Blake Griffin himself could start a social network that served no purpose outside of featuring his dizzying (and disgusting, if you will) array of dunks, and it'd probably go over quite well. Instead, he -- along with other superstars in the National Basketball Association -- will soon see replays of in-game highlights making waves across Twitter in more official fashion. Hot on the heels of a deal between ESPN and Twitter comes this: a partnership between the NBA and the aforesaid social network that'll get video highlights to the world while the game is still ongoing.

#NBARapidReplay will be the hashtag to watch for as the playoffs progress, and as you'd expect, short advertisements will appear alongside those clips. Twitter's foray into the television universe is hardly a new one, but it's becoming ever more obvious that the company is following the ad dollars into the homes of everyday viewers. Up next? A deal to tweet highlights from the 2014 Masters golf tournament... but only in extremely soft spoken, lowercase, predominantly pompous characters.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: Bloomberg

It arrived with a bang, but it's been dead silence ever since. Lenovo's Intel Clover Trail+ smartphone, the Android-based K900, is finally ready to make its grand entrance into the consumer realm. The 5.5-inch powerhouse will ship with a dual-core Atom Z2580 CPU (2.0GHz) within, a PowerVR SGX 544MP2 GPU, a 1080p IPS panel slipped behind a coating of Gorilla Glass 2 and a 13 megapixel camera. Despite the sizable display, it weighs just 162 grams and measures 6.9 millimeters thick, and should be available across greater China right now for RMB 3,299 (around $536) -- or RMB 2,999 if you're lucky. For those outside of Lenovo's homeland, you'll need to wait until summer for it to hit an unspecified amount of "international markets."

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo

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Source: Lenovo, JD.com

Some might say it's been a long, long while since October -- with "some" referring to the swath of Kickstarter backers who've been waiting oh-so-patiently for a Form 1 to call their own. Formlabs has just confirmed via a company blog post that the very first Form 1 3D printer shipped out today, as the Collector's Edition Form 1 and half of the Initial Formation tier of pledges hopped on a variety of delivery trucks. The rest of you backers can expect to begin printing "by the end of next week." For those keeping count, the Form 1 is actually a few months behind schedule, but in all honesty, that's pretty good considering the up-and-down nature of crowdfunded projects that manage to find the limelight.

The outfit is reminding folks that Form 1 units are shipped as they're produced, fulfilling Kickstarter rewards and preorders by priority. Specifics on group deliveries won't come for a few more weeks, but those in the Bay Area can swing by Maker Faire (or ICFF if you're in the Big Apple) to catch an early glimpse. Oh, and if you're just now hearing of this thing? You can place a $3,299 order right now, but you probably won't get it until July. Them's the breaks, kids!

Filed under: Peripherals

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Source: Formlabs

Call us crazy, but it sure feels like Yahoo's had one heck of a spring. When it comes to spending, anyway. Just as soon as it can get one check to clear, the search icon is breaking the ink back out to write another. According to a breaking tweet from CNBC, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is scheduled to speak at a "product-related" event in New York City this coming Monday. It's tough to tell what kind of surprise will be in store, but we wouldn't be shocked if it involved the word "Tumblr." We're digging for more as we speak, and will most certainly be on hand to see what comes to fruition.

Update: We've just heard back from Yahoo, and the event is indeed going down in order to "share something special." And yes, we'll be there to bring whatever happens to your browser of choice.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: CNBC (Twitter)

Amazon confirmed as early as last September that the Kindle Keyboard would be sticking around, but much like your favorite dessert, nothing is forever. The Kindle Keyboard 3G is now showing as unavailable or out of stock at Amazon's site, as well as at Best Buy and Target. Of course, the last of those has had this here device on sale for what feels like forever, but it's still somewhat sad to see it come to the end of its road. It's entirely possible that the company's Lab126 is cooking up a replacement alongside those mythical smartphones, but it's unclear if such a conceptual piece is on the immediate horizon. We've reached out to Amazon regarding the disappearance, and we'll be sure to update this post as we learn more.

[Thanks, John]

Filed under: Amazon

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Source: Amazon, Best Buy, Target

USSR and the USA. Batman and Joker. Christoph Waltz and... well, everyone. It's pretty tough to look at the world's best-known rivalries and exclude one of history's finest -- that being, of course, Sonic and Mario. The gritty battle between Nintendo and Sega gave fans on both sides plenty to converse about over the years, and one might say that the video game industry as a whole benefited from the back-and-forth. Now that Sega is a shell of its former self, though, the company's most iconic character is turning to its archrival in search of shelter. On the console side, Nintendo will be the exclusive home for Sonic games going forward, with the Wii U and 3DS set to become the homes for the next three titles -- details of which should be revealed "in the coming weeks." (Update: Looks as if Nintendo has outed a few more details. Sonic Lost World and Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games have been name-checked in particular.)

Meanwhile, Android users will be pleased to know that Sonic the Hedgehog was released today in the Google Play store. It's available for $2.99, while iOS users are also being granted a free update to coincide.

Filed under: Gaming, Mobile, Nintendo

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Via: Joystiq

Source: Nintendo, Google Play

Regulators in Canada have been making a push to enhance competition in the mobile space, with Industry Minister Christian Paradis going so far as to lay out a set of rules for the nation's upcoming 700MHz spectrum auction that he promises will give citizens "more choices and more access at better prices." Granted, that ideal world only works if the carriers can stay afloat long enough to bid. According to William Aziz, Mobilicity's own chief restructuring officer, the operator has been "losing a significant amount of money every month." To that end, he reckons that an "acquisition by Telus is the best alternative," and he seems to think that the $380 million deal will receive a hasty approval considering the circumstances.

The purchase price is thought to be high enough to cover the debts looming over Mobilicity, and it'll give its 150 employees a secure job at Telus. If it sails through, a quarter-million Mobilicity customers should see no interruption in service as the integration takes place. Of course, a secondary benefit for Telus is gaining access to the spectrum Mobilicity currently uses. The end result for customers in the world's nicest country? We'd love to say that one fewer player will result in better service, lower prices and greater fulfillment for all... but something tells us that's probably wishing for a bit much.

[Image credit: Andrew Currie, Flickr]

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: Telus

Nearly two years ago to the day, Google introduced Music Beta at I/O 2011. But in reality, it was little more than a gigantic cloud to store 20,000 of your favorite tracks. Despite a plethora of rumors that the search giant would beat Spotify to the punch by launching a subscription-based music service in the United States, we got a digital locker that has done little to distract most listeners from giving Rdio, Pandora, iTunes and other like services at least a piece of their heart. Fast forward to today, and Google's finally joining the bandwagon... in majorly limited fashion.

Google Music All Access is presently only available for mobile as an Android app, and only to users in the US. Moreover, it costs $9.99 -- the exact same sum as practically every one of its rivals. Rivals that have multi-year headstarts in terms of mind and market share. (Yes, it's $7.99 per month if you sign up prior to June 30th.) Google has landed deals with the same "major labels" as everyone else, but even product manager Paul Joyce affirmed to us here at I/O that All Access doesn't have access to any exclusives. In a post-keynote meeting with Joyce, he noted that this is only the start for the product. Naturally, Google's going to do its finest work on its own platform, but it's certainly odd to see iOS users left out in the cold given Google's acknowledgement of its importance just minutes earlier.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Google

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Source: Google Play

According to Bernhard Seefeld, product management director at Google Maps, "this is the most significant overhaul of Maps since it launched in 2005." We sat down with both Seefeld as well as Jonah Jones -- lead designer of Google Maps -- following a marathon keynote to kick off Google I/O. Their slice of the event centered around the desktop refresh of Google Maps, but there's actually a lot more to be excited about than what was announced today. Essentially, the preview that I/O attendees were granted access to is the first instance of Maps for desktop using vectors instead of tiles. In lay terms, that's a far sexier rendering engine, and users of the mobile Maps products will already be familiar with how it feels. Seefeld affirmed that the new desktop Maps is slightly quicker to load, but you'll want a WebGL-supporting browser to take advantage of the bells and whistles. (In our tests, the Maps experience was far superior in Chrome compared to Firefox.)

We toyed around with the new layout for a bit, and overall, it looks and feels better. Refreshing, you could say. The search box is now entirely more useful, popping up intelligent cards beneath places you search for. You'll have glanceable access to operating hours, surrounding traffic and recommended places -- that's not new, it's just surfaced in a more sensible way now. There's also dedicated shortcuts to directions and starring. Visually, it looks a lot nicer, the zooms are a little cleaner, and the search box is a tad more useful. Street View is accessed via the search box now, and there's a toggle on the right side that overlays Google Earth data and (impressively) shows it from varying degrees of tilt. The magic really begins after you sign in with your Google account. If you've starred or rated a restaurant using Google Maps or Google+, for example, it'll automatically populate recommended eateries that your friends have rated highly. If, of course, your friends are using Google+.

Gallery: Redesigned Google Maps for Desktop hands-on at Google I/O 2013

Filed under: GPS, Software, Google

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Source: Google Maps preview

Look, we're well aware that you're already fantasizing about the PlayStation 4, but how do you think that makes your existing PS3 feel? (Hint: Not awesome.) For those still focused on remaining in the here and now, Netflix has issued an update for its PS3 Player that "is more consistent with the Netflix player on the web as well as [its] mobile and tablet applications." The key feature in this update is the ability to easily manage your audio and subtitle selections; before, you had to hop out of whatever you were watching in order to tweak those elements, but now you can make said changes while the content is still on screen. There have also been improvements made in the "trickplay" mode mode when scanning forward or reverse in play mode -- essentially, these images now load a lot faster, which ought to keep your blood pressure at a safe level. The update is out now for PS3 users, and should be hitting select Smart TVs and Blu-ray Disc players soon.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Netflix

Google hasn't even officially launched Babel, but word on the street has it that the aforesaid term was being used internally to reference a new, unified chat platform. Now, TechRadar is reporting that Babel will simply become a part of Google Hangouts -- almost certainly as a means to continue the art of subtly shoving Google+ onto every user it can. Moreover, the newly expanded Hangouts could launch as early as next week during Google I/O, and we'll be there to bring you the goods if indeed it does.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: SlashGear

Source: TechRadar

Dustin Adams, a Ph.D student at the University of California at Santa Cruz, has teamed up with colleagues at his school in order to craft an app that helps visually impaired users line up the ideal snapshot. The project started out as a quiz, asking 54 people with varying degrees of ocular impairment what they found most difficult about taking photos. From there, he essentially boiled that down into requirements for a smartphone program. For starters, the app does away with a conventional shutter button, instead relying on an upward swipe gesture to grab a frame.

Moreover, it integrates face detection and voice accessibility, enabling the phone itself to talk to the photographer and alert him / her as to how many faces are detected and in focus. The app also captures a 30-second audio clip whenever the camera mode is activated, which helps remind users of what was going on during the capture of a shot. Unfortunately, there aren't any screenshots or videos of the app in action just yet, but that's scheduled to change when it's formally unveiled at the Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments conference in Greece later this month.

Filed under: Software, Alt

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Via: NewScientist

Source: University of California at Santa Cruz [PDF]

A lot has changed in the security realm since 2008 -- remember Alicia Keys' recent attempt to convince us her Twitter account was hacked, when we all know she still uses an iPhone even as BlackBerry's Creative Director? Pranks aside, the consumer world alone has been overrun with mass data hackings -- everyone from Evernote to Microsoft to Sony to RSA has felt the wrath. To combat all of this, Google is revamping its five-year security plan, which calls for a complex authentication code replacing the conventional password in due time; in other words, Google is going to make it harder to access your accounts when initially setting up a device, but hopes you'll deal. Eric Sachs, group product manager for identity at Google, put it as such: "We will change sign-in to a once-per-device action and make it higher friction, not lower friction, for all users. We don't mind making it painful for users to sign into their device if they only have to do it once."

The documents also suggest that two-step verification may soon become less of an option, and more of a mandate. Sachs straight-up confesses that Google didn't predict the current level of smartphone adoption back in 2008, but now realizes that utilizing mobile hardware and apps as friction points for logging in makes a lot more sense. A huge swath of Google users are already carrying around a product that could be used as a verification token, so the obvious solution is to make use of that. We're also told that learnings from Android will be carried over to Chrome, and further into the world of web apps. No specific ETAs are given, but trust us -- half a decade goes by quickly when you're having fun.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Via: ZDNet

Source: Google

It has the makings of a film -- but the fallout from one of the world's most sophisticated ATM heists is very real. The New York Times is reporting that a massive team of criminals worked in concert in order to grab some $45 million in a matter of hours over the course of two operations. The sheer scope of the project is hard to wrap one's mind around, involving trained personnel positioned in over two dozen countries.

Earlier today, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn "unsealed an indictment charging eight members of the New York crew, offering a glimpse into what the authorities said was one of the most sophisticated and effective cybercrime attacks ever uncovered." In essence, the hackers were able to infiltrate various credit card processing companies and raise withdrawal limits on prepaid accounts -- from there, cashing crews hit thousands of ATMs, socking away millions in the process. Hit up the source link for the full read; it's a wild one, for sure.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: The New York Times

Remember the EVO 3D? Swap out the HTC logo for an Amazon one, and you just might be onto something. According to a new Wall Street Journal report, one of the world's most famed forkers of Android is looking to expand its mobile portfolio by adding the one crucial device it lacks: a phone. As the story goes, the company has been toiling on a pair of smartphones as well as an "audio-only streaming device," all to "expand its reach beyond its Kindle Fire line of tablet computers." If you'll recall, we've heard that Amazon was dabbling in similar works since at least 2010, but the notion of expanding the Amazon ecosystem is now more pertinent. One of those phones is a higher-end device that offers up a glasses-free 3D display -- it's bruited that it would use "retina-tracking technology" to enable visuals that "seem to float above the screen like a [Tupac?] hologram." In fact, that eye-scrolling technology that was initially rumored to be a part of the Galaxy S4 may instead make its debut on Amazon hardware.

Of course, rumors of an Amazon phone have been running just about as long as rumors of a Facebook phone, but it seems that the company is (still) making a very concerted effort to further expand into the hardware arena. We're told that the prototypes are being nurtured within Amazon's Lab126 facility in Cupertino, "where each of the devices have been under development, the efforts are known as Project A, B, C and D, or collectively as the Alphabet Projects." If all goes well, Amazon could release at least some of these products in the coming months, but there's also the chance that every last one of 'em could be "shelved because of performance, financial or other concerns." Come to think of it, it's been a hot minute since Amazon threw a launch party for anything -- what say we change that, Jeff?

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Amazon

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Source: The Wall Street Journal

For many iOS users, the concept of backing up their iPhones and iPads to ones PC is a familiar one -- just plug it into iTunes, hit a button, and wait around for an undetermined amount of time. For Android users, however, the idea of syncing one's phone to a PC may be a bit more foreign. Back in April, Samsung quietly launched SideSync software in order to both back up a user's phone while also allowing a laptop's mouse to dictate actions on the mobile. Things like copy / paste and drag / drop can be accessed while connected, and users can even pull a virtual copy of their phone up while mousing around on their laptop. For those needing a few visuals to get their noodle wrapped around it all, just click through the break.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Via: SammyHub

Source: Samsung (YouTube)

Huawei and the United States government may have their differences, but here's something we can all agree on: Walmart's going to sell whatever it darn well pleases. Including, mind you, Huawei's first Windows Phone 8 smartphone. The W1 -- which has made inroads in multiple markets already -- is heading to Yankee soil, with shipments expected to begin "this month" at Walmart.com and at select Walmart stores. For those in need of a refresher, it'll pack a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, a 4-inch IPS touchpanel, 1.7GB of user-available internal storage (expandable to 32GB via microSD card), a 5 megapixel rear camera (with a 0.3MP shooter on the front) and the latest iteration of Microsoft's mobile OS. Strangely, Huawei nor Walmart are saying what the damage will be, but it'll reportedly be priced "competitively" on a prepaid, no-contract plan.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft

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Source: Windows Phone Blog, Huawei

If you'll recall, Microsoft revealed as a footnote to its Q3 2013 earnings report that then-CFO Peter Klein would be stepping down. Today, we're learning a bit more about the transition. Starting right now (well, a few minutes ago), corporate vice president Amy Hood has been moved up to chief financial officer, and while Klein is set to remain onboard through June, Hood is grabbing the title right away. Prior to this role, Hood served as CFO for Microsoft's Business Division, and has been with the company for just over a decade. Asked if she had any immediate plans, she softly nodded and whispered: "I'm bringing Clippy back." Just kidding. But that would've been awesome.

Filed under: Microsoft

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Source: Microsoft