T-Mobile joins Verizon to support Samsung in Apple patent lawsuit

Verizon was the first carrier to come to Samsung’s defense in the company’s patent dispute with Apple, but it’s not the last. As Reuters reports today, T-Mobile has now also sided with Samsung in the lawsuit, stating in a court filing that a sales ban on certain Samsung products would “unnecessarily harm” the carrier and its customers, and that, “at this late date, T-Mobile could not find comparable replacement products for the 2011 holiday season.” The carrier also noted that its ads also “prominently feature” some of the Samsung products in question, and that those investments ” cannot be recouped easily.” As for the case itself, the next big date is an October 13th hearing on the injunction request. T-Mobile joins Verizon to support Samsung in Apple patent lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Sony to stop paying for movie theater 3D glasses, theater owners fire back

As if going to the movies wasn’t getting expensive enough, now theater owners and studios are fighting over the cost of 3D glasses — again . Sony Pictures sent out a letter indicating that starting in May 2012, it won’t foot the bill for moviegoer’s 3D glasses anymore, pushing the charge onto the theater instead. The Hollywood Reporter uncovered the letter and indicates the total pricetag for a major movie like the ones Sony has planned for next summer — Men in Black III and The Amazing Spider-Man — can run as high as $5 to $10 million in total. Studios have been covering the cost to help push 3D so far but Sony’s declaration could lead to other studios following, and changing to a model where moviegoers buy and keep their own 3D glasses. It’d be nice to think keeper pairs could reduce the surcharge — or for 3D haters, switch more showings to 2D — but with a half-full box of candy apparently worth its weight in gold, we’re not optimistic. Sony to stop paying for movie theater 3D glasses, theater owners fire back originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds .

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Sony to stop paying for movie theater 3D glasses, theater owners fire back

Toshiba announces 7-inch Thrive tablet, we go hands-on (video)

It looks like the AT200 isn’t the only Toshiba tablet poised to land in time for the holidays. The company just announced the Thrive 7″, a (surprise!) 7-inch version of the original . Like its big brother, it runs on Tegra 2 and packs twin 5 MP / 2 MP cameras, though this time around that textured, rubberized back isn’t removable, and the rear-facing camera comes paired with an LED flash. As you’d expect, in exchange for a smaller form factor (0.88 pounds, half an inch thick), you’ll be giving up the full-sized ports that made the original so unique. Instead, it offers a more typical selection, including mini-USB and micro-HDMI sockets, a headphone jack, docking connector and a microSD slot. Like pretty much every 7- and 8-incher trickling into the market, it runs Android 3.2, and Toshiba did us the favor of leaving it completely unskinned (it did include Swype as a keyboard option, though). No word yet on pricing or availability, though a Toshiba rep confirmed that 16GB and 32GB models will go on sale by early December with a starting price of “less than $400.” How low is Toshiba willing to go? Your guess is good as ours but until then, you can meet us past the break for some early impressions and a short vid, too

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Toshiba announces 7-inch Thrive tablet, we go hands-on (video)

Engadget HD Podcast 267 – 09.27.2011

This week on the EHD podcast we witness the circle of life, as Sezmi’s lights go dark Dish and Blockbuster are proudly showing off Movie Pass. But even with those, Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu and Google TV can internet streaming really change the entertainment model? We’ll see, but traditional TV providers are fighting back, as seen by Comcast’s AnyPlay and DirecTV’s updated iPad app. Other potential sources for change include the G.hn powerline networking standard, Facebook’s latest twist on social media and a new version of Flash and Air from Adobe. We close things out with a look at what’s on our HDTVs this week, press play and see which fall premieres made the cut. Get the podcast [ iTunes ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [ RSS - AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes. [ RSS - MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [ Zune ] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace [ MP3 ] Download the show (MP3)

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Engadget HD Podcast 267 – 09.27.2011

Samsung announces Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S II HD LTE handsets for Korean market

There’s some pretty big news coming out of South Korea today, where Samsung has just announced the Galaxy S II LTE handset, along with its even more alluring cousin, the Galaxy S II LTE HD — the first member of the Galaxy S family to rock an HD display. The new device, pictured on the right, boasts a 4.65-inch Super AMOLED HD screen with 1280 x 720 resolution, which translates to about 316 pixels per inch. Other than that, its specs are identical to those of the Gingerbread-laced S II LTE, which is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and features 16GB of internal memory, an eight megapixel camera that supports 1080p HD video and the usual collection of WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC capabilities. No word yet on pricing or availability, but the Galaxy S II LTE will be available exclusively on SK Telecom, while the HD variant will be available on all three Korean carriers — SK Telecom, LG U+ and KT. Samsung announces Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S II HD LTE handsets for Korean market originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank gives your cats another reason to hate your iPad (video)

If the only thing standing between you and the purchase of an iPad is the existence of a large, remote controlled spy tank, we’ve got some rough news for your bank account. Brookstone is offering up the Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank, an iPad / iPhone / iPod touch-controlled toy tank that can capture audio and video and send it back to your iOS device. The tank can be controlled at distances of up to 200 feet and works around walls. The app is available as a free download and the tank will run you $150. That price includes six AA batteries, but apparently won’t cover therapy for distressed house pets. Continue reading Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank gives your cats another reason to hate your iPad (video) Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank gives your cats another reason to hate your iPad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Motorola LTE handset emerges with qHD Super AMOLED display, questionable identity

Well, what do we have here? According to “trusted sources” over at This Is My Next it’s a Motorola Spyder, or a Droid RAZR, or maybe even the Droid HD we peeped back in August. Whatever the name, the phone is apparently packing a first-of-its-kind 4.3-inch, 960 x 450 qHD super AMOLED display. The rumored LTE handset also supposedly contains a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB or RAM, an 8 megapixel, 1080p rear-facing camera and HD front-facing camera, and is apparently outfitted in Gorilla Glass and Kevlar. TIMN is also boasting exclusive new details for the recently outed Atrix 2 . It seems the name is confirmed as well as a handful of previously identified specs. What’s more, the phone’s got a couple of accessories on board, including a laptop dock called the Lapdock 100, also rumored to play nice with the Spyder, or RAZR, or HD. More images of both devices await you at the source links below

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Motorola LTE handset emerges with qHD Super AMOLED display, questionable identity

Pre 3 for AT&T review

This is a review of a phone that was never actually released to the public on AT&T. Despite the unfortunateness of the prior statement, we felt obligated to run this device through the wringer as a final farewell to Palm, the Pre line and webOS on consumer devices. Man, what a weird, labyrinthine life this device has had. European carriers didn’t even want the Pre 2 , and for whatever reason, those folks were the only ones to even get the Pre 3. Excluding this guy, of course. This guy, as you’ve probably gleaned, is one of only a handful of AT&T Pre 3 handsets to make it out of the factory unscathed, and we couldn’t be happier to be putting it through the paces. Well..

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Pre 3 for AT&T review

Scientists reconstruct images from our brains, plan to do the same for dreams (video)

This is your brain. And now this is your brain on YouTube . By using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) software, researchers at UC Berkeley created a visual representation of what our brains see when we watch a TV or movie. It works as such: scientists show subjects random clips and measure the corresponding cerebral activity. After the computer “learns” what vids evoke what brain activity, scientists feed 18 million seconds of random YouTube videos into the computer program where it reconstructs a movie representation of neural happenings based on the hundred clips most similar to what it sees. Although the method currently only works with images actually viewed, the future goal is to recreate what people see in their dreams and memories — which could give doctors major insight to the minds of the mentally impaired, stroke victims or those with neurological disorders. Inception in real life isn’t exactly around the corner, but the implications of this new technology are pretty mind-blowing

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Scientists reconstruct images from our brains, plan to do the same for dreams (video)

Sprint’s Motorola Admiral quietly displayed on YouTube as America watches dancing cats

It may not have quite as many views as Admiral Ackbar, but a chieftan of Sprint’s CDMA-based Direct Connect service was officially outed by the carrier via YouTube earlier. Our device in question, the Motorola Admiral , has now been given a speedy lookover despite the fact that the company hasn’t even seen fit to acknowledge its existence otherwise. ‘Course, we don’t imagine this was accidental in the slightest — the video of the rugged Android device has been up for several hours without getting pulled — but it’s still a curious way to introduce one of the first phones featuring a brand new service . Regardless, we now have the clearest shots of the portrait QWERTY smartphone that we’ve seen yet; the two-and-a-half minute teaser didn’t list off a lot of specs, but it did confirm the handset’s 3.1-inch display and five megapixel camera with LED flash. That should count for something, right? Still, it likely won’t be long before we get a real announcement with the full rundown, so just keep yourself entertained by watching the “related videos” section in the meantime. Check out the vid after the break.

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Sprint’s Motorola Admiral quietly displayed on YouTube as America watches dancing cats

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