What We Use: Kevin Purdy Edition [What We Use]

What We Use: Kevin Purdy Edition [What We Use]: "

All this week, Lifehacker's editors will be sharing the hardware, software, and tips and tricks they use to do their jobs here. I'm kicking things off with a heavy dose of Chrome/Android utilities, plus some writer's tools and productivity basics. More »

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CE Oh no he didn't!: Netgear boss calls 'game over' for Microsoft, Jobs' 'ego' reason iPhone doesn't support Flash

CE Oh no he didn't!: Netgear boss calls 'game over' for Microsoft, Jobs' 'ego' reason iPhone doesn't support Flash: "Can't say that Patrick Lo is a name that immediately rang any bells around here. He's certainly not as recognizable as Netgear, the company that he chairs and rules supreme. But boy did he hit our radar screens this morning. Lo had plenty of criticism to spread around the Microsoft and Apple camps today during a press lunch in Sydney. Oh where to even begin? Let's start with Microsoft, and Lo's claim that, 'Microsoft is over -- game over, from my point of view,' when comparing Windows Phone 7's chance to compete with Android and the iPhone. Doubtful, not with Redmond's Windows 7 and MS Office cash cows fueling Microsoft's intense desire to execute on its new mobile strategy.



Lo then turned his sights on Apple, having this to say on the topic of Apple's refusal to support Adobe Flash on its mobile devices: 'What's the reason for him to trash Flash? There's no reason other than ego.' Funny, we thought it was due to performance, security, and power consumption issues. Lo later added, 'Once Steve Jobs goes away, which is probably not far away, then Apple will have to make a strategic decision on whether to open up the platform.' Classy. Hit the source link below if you're just dying to hear how 'closed' systems are inferior to 'open' systems all over again.

CE Oh no he didn't!: Netgear boss calls 'game over' for Microsoft, Jobs' 'ego' reason iPhone doesn't support Flash originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 04:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Open a Locked Suitcase without Leaving a Trace [Video]

Open a Locked Suitcase without Leaving a Trace [Video]: "

Whether you've lost the key to your own suitcase and need to get it open in a hurry or you're trying to plant some contraband in your dodgy roommate's bag, this clever hack has to be seen to be believed. More »

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LG G-Slate makes guest appearance on MysteryGuitarMan's YouTube channel (video)

LG G-Slate makes guest appearance on MysteryGuitarMan's YouTube channel (video): "

LG's promotional strategy for the G-Slate seems to be to keep officially mum about the device, while letting random pseudo-celebrities tease it out in brief glimpses. A week ago, K-Pop artist Seungri gave us our first sighting of the dual-camera array on the back of the G-Slate, which has today made its triumphant return to YouTube, courtesy of one MysteryGuitarMan. The rear of the device here doesn't look identical to the one in Seungri's video, however the metallic strip separating the cams and its 'with Google' branding look nearly identical to what LG has on the back of its Optimus 2X Android smartphone. We're also seeing a single LED flash for the first time, there are a couple of unidentified connectors at the bottom, at least one of them likely to assist docking in landscape mode, and we do get to see the tablet in profile for an idea of how thin it is. Video after the break.

Continue reading LG G-Slate makes guest appearance on MysteryGuitarMan's YouTube channel (video)

LG G-Slate makes guest appearance on MysteryGuitarMan's YouTube channel (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink @KevinLyHD (Twitter) | MysteryGuitarMan (YouTube) | Email this | Comments"

Mark Zuckerberg meets the fake Mark Zuckerbergs on Saturday Night Live (video)

Mark Zuckerberg meets the fake Mark Zuckerbergs on Saturday Night Live (video): "

Mark Zuckerberg, the man who invented poking and the subject of a major motion picture in 2010 just met his nemeses on the set of Saturday Night Live. No, not the Winklevoss twins, we're talking Jesse Eisenberg, the man nominated for an Academy Award after playing Zuckerberg in The Social Network. Toss in Andy Samberg and we've got a comically uncomfortable situation from Web 2.0's very personification of awkward. All hail the Zuck Bergs!

Continue reading Mark Zuckerberg meets the fake Mark Zuckerbergs on Saturday Night Live (video)

Mark Zuckerberg meets the fake Mark Zuckerbergs on Saturday Night Live (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games

Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games: "Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

One thing that has set Sony apart from its home console rivals has been the extended lifecycles of its hardware. Riding the momentum of a massive install base, both the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 each kept selling strong nearly a decade after their debut, and years after their respective successors were introduced. In fact, as late as 2009, Audiovox began offering a PS2 integrated into an aftermarket ovehead car video system with a 10' screen. Sony could pursue this strategy in home consoles because the PS2 was the runaway unit volume leader of its generation. Not so with the PSP.



When Sony introduced the PlayStation Portable, it entered a portable console market with fierce, entrenched competition from the incumbent Nintendo, and the powerful widescreen handheld was outsold by the Nintendo DS and its later derivatives. Sony couldn't attain the market share it needed to steamroll existing competition.



With Sony's announcements this week, however, the PlayStation purveyors seem to have found a way to take their one-two punch on the road with a strategy that takes the PSP and segments its evolution.

Continue reading Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games

Switched On: A suite segment for PlayStation games originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 23:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PS3 firmware 3.56 hacked in less than a day, Sony's lawyers look confused (update)

PS3 firmware 3.56 hacked in less than a day, Sony's lawyers look confused (update): "

Sony's taken some strong steps against PS3 cracking in the past week -- not only has it taken to the courts and won a temporary restraining order against Geohot and fail0verflow for cracking the console, but it also released firmware 3.56, which locked things down again. Unfortunately, that restraining order doesn't mean anyone else has to stop a-crackin', and wouldn't you know it: 3.56 was cracked open in less than a day by KaKaRoToKS, who was behind one of the first 3.55 custom firmwares. Now that the 3.56 signing keys are out, we'd guess updated custom firmware is soon to come -- and we'd bet Sony's lawsuit will just inspire an entirely new wave of people to jailbreak once those hit the scene. Way to put that genie back in the bottle, Sony.



Update: We're hearing that new custom firmware isn't on the table quite yet, because Sony changed most of the locks, and is reportedly actually storing the all-important ECDSA private key with random-number cryptography this time around. Be warned: if you upgrade to 3.56, there's no easy way back down. In related news, Github complied with a DMCA takedown notice to remove KaKaRoToKS's repositories, so you'll have to head on over to Gitorious (at our more coverage link) to get at the fail0verflow tools.



[Thanks, Tomi R]

PS3 firmware 3.56 hacked in less than a day, Sony's lawyers look confused (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CVG, Edge | KaKaRoToKS (Twitter) | Email this | Comments"

Next PS3 update rumored to add 'Online Saving' for PlayStation Plus users

Next PS3 update rumored to add 'Online Saving' for PlayStation Plus users: "

Say it with us, finally a PS3 firmware update that actually does something useful! We've grown so accustomed to Sony refreshing the software on its console just to spite jailbreakers that we almost started to believe that's all the word 'update' entailed. But, here comes Kotaku with word that v3.6 of the PS3's firmware will come with a neat little addition: saving games to the cloud. This seems a very logical step toward delivering Sony's overall goal of giving users a holistic, integrated experience. Indeed, during the NGP presentation, guest speaker Hideo Kojima specifically referred to saving your PS3 game on the console and resuming it on the Next Generation Portable. 'Online Saving,' as Sony's reputed to be calling it, would be the conduit through which that can be realized, though it doesn't appear like it'll come for free. Kotaku's sources indicate it'll be part of the PlayStation Plus subscription, at least initially. Still, we like cloud storage, and if it means never having to see another hard drive again, we're all for it.

Next PS3 update rumored to add 'Online Saving' for PlayStation Plus users originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cella Energy says its hydrogen microbeads could fuel your car, cost $1.50 per gallon

Cella Energy says its hydrogen microbeads could fuel your car, cost $1.50 per gallon: "

Your average hydrogen-powered car is a marvel of modern science -- fuel cell sifting electrons out of pure H2 and emitting nothing but water -- powered by big, heavy, high-pressure tanks of gas. Cella Energy is here to ditch the tank, having first developed a means of storing hydrogen in microfibers that could greatly simplify the design of these vehicles. But, perhaps even more impressive is a 'synthetic fuel' the company is working on which is, essentially, pure hydrogen captured into microbeads. You know, like the kind that float in your shampoo and give your hair that extra lustre, but explosive. According to Cella these beads can be poured into the gas tank of a car with an internal combustion engine (presumably suspended in some sort of liquid) and, with no modification, that car will run just fine. Best news is that this concoction costs just $1.50 per gallon -- or will, eventually. Supposedly. Maybe?

Cella Energy says its hydrogen microbeads could fuel your car, cost $1.50 per gallon originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support

Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support: "

Thought Honeycomb was just for tablets? Well, it's not! Sure, tablets might be Google's main thrust with the release, but we've been able to dig up enough evidence in the preview SDK's emulator released yesterday to suggest that these guys are still keeping their eyes on the smartphone prize.



Here's how it works: the emulator can be set to load at an arbitrary screen resolution. By default, that's WXGA, 1280 x 768 -- perfect for tablets, but obviously a wee bit large for even the biggest smartphones. Well, it turns out that setting the emulator to WVGA (like you might find on a modern mid- to high-end smartphone) triggers a moderately different shell UI that lacks most of the whiz-bang home screen stuff Google's shown on the Honeycomb tablets. In fact, the default launcher crashes out entirely, which means you need to install a replacement (Launcher Pro works nicely) just to play around.



Once you get in, it's pretty raw, but you immediately notice that the emulator's got some traces of smartphone support. Notably, the status bar reverts to a more smartphone-friendly form, albeit one with pre-Gingerbread background coloration and incorrectly-inverted font colors. The lock screen (pictured above) is back to its old form, not the webOS-esque circular lock in the Honeycomb tablet UI. The browser -- which has been completely revamped in Honeycomb -- works, though without visible tabs; Google might be thinking that they'd take up too much real estate on a screen this small.



Again, you can't glean much here, but it's interesting primarily because the emulator knows to revert to a smartphone UI layout at the lower resolution -- a possible sign that Honeycomb will be a true dual-mode, dual-purpose platform from day one. And even if it isn't, it looks like they're setting themselves up for a two-UI strategy down the road.

Gallery: Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support

[Thanks, Andrew]

Android 3.0 Honeycomb emulator has traces of smartphone support originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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