When you retard fair use with pointless DRM and then sue anonymous children for illegally downloading music while ignoring those of the execs at the top of the music industry, well, you’re asking for a public relations nightmare. Now, with more than 35,000 lawsuits to its credit, the RIAA says it will finally end the legal assault against consumers that began back in 2003. The Recording Industry Association of America will instead, focus its anti-piracy efforts with ISPs. Under the new plan, the RIAA will contact ISPs when illegal uploading is detected. The ISP will then contact the customer with a notice that would ultimately be followed by a reduction or cessation of service. As you’d expect, the RIAA is not commenting on which ISPs they are in cahoots with. The RIAA also says that it won’t require ISPs to reveal the identities of individuals but could, of course, go after individuals who are heavy uploaders or repeat offenders. For the moment though, it appears that single-mothers are in the clear.
Filed under: Portable Audio
RIAA finds its soul, will stop suing individuals downloading music originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 06:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Thanks to a totally amazing Engadget source, we’ve gotten our hands on photos of the absolutely sick Dell Studio XPS 13, and some new info about the company’s forthcoming Adamo. First off, the photos in the gallery are of that Studio XPS we caught wind of way back in August. The pics we saw back then don’t really do the laptop justice, as you can tell by these snaps. Meanwhile, that rumored Adamo is very much real, and very much like what we’ve been hearing. Apparently the device — which the company plans to market as the “world’s thinnest laptop” — was slated to be released this month, but has been pushed back till at least February. The Adamo will sport a black and silver color scheme similar to the system you see here, but is “different,” and we’re told that it’s most definitely Dell’s play to nab some of that MacBook Air marketshare. We’re working on some photos of that, but until those come through, enjoy the gallery below!
Dell Studio XPS 13 leather-wrapped laptop revealed, Adamo info leaked! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 23:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Great googly moogly, we wrote about this very application like fifty weeks ago. Fifty, people! Of course, with the drawn-out SlingCatcher drama, lengthy Sling product cycles aren’t a terribly big surprise, so we should just all thank our lucky stars we’re going to be getting our hands on SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry before the year’s out. The app officially enters its public beta cycle come December 30 for the Bold, the Curve 8320 / 8900, the Pearl 8120 / 8220, and the venerable 8820, piping your home teevee right to your handset and usurping any semblance of productivity your BlackBerry otherwise stands for. A 3G or WiFi connection is “strongly recommended” — which we take to mean “go ahead, give EDGE a whirl” — but BlackBerry OS 4.5 is a hard and fast requirement, so make sure you come equipped with the goods if you want to waste some quality time in front of the small screen when this goes live.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Video
SlingPlayer Mobile for BlackBerry goes beta at long last on December 30 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It took a little longer than we’d heard due to some last-minute complications, but Panasonic’s deal to buy almost all of Sanyo has finally been approved by Sanyo’s major shareholders. Under the deal, Panny will buy out some 70 percent of Sanyo for ¥131 (.50) a share, making the total deal worth some ¥560B (.41B). That’d be lot of scratch even if the economy wasn’t in the tank, but Panny thinks it’ll be worth it to take over Sanyo’s position in the solar and rechargeable battery markets, which it thinks are due to blow up. Er, not blow up like that — in the fun-filled raining-cash way. You get the idea. Xactis for everyone!
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Panasonic to officially purchase controlling stake in Sanyo for .4B originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Watch this space folks — it’s the end of an era. Apple has just issued a press release stating that this coming MacWorld in January will be its last, and Steve Jobs won’t be on hand to say goodbye. Instead, Phil Schiller will be heading up the proceedings, thus marking a quiet end to a conference that’s been the launching point of some of the most important pieces of consumer tech in recent memory. In Apple’s words:
Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.
Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.
Update: Oh, and just to clarify, this is merely Apple’s last MacWorld, not the last MacWorld. IDG just made a statement confirming that it’s on for an Apple-free MacWorld 2010 at the Moscone Center — January 4th through 8th if you’re planning ahead.
[Thanks, JBCornelius]
Apple announces final MacWorld, Steve Jobs won’t deliver keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Well this has been a long time coming. It seems that the iPhone Dev-Team has finally done the impossible — they’ve gone and unlocked the iPhone 3G. The hack isn’t out yet (the team says they’re shooting for a December 31st release), and it requires that you’ve got a baseband of 2.11.07 or earlier, but when it drops, the crew seems fairly confident it will result in freedom from carrier oppression. The team is packaging the app — formerly codenamed “yellowsn0w” — into a user-friendly app a la PwnageTool and QuickPwn. Of course, you know how this cat and mouse game goes by now, so don’t be surprised when Jobs and company come calling with an update that adds toast making to the official menu, but breaks your breaks all over again.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Cellphones
iPhone 3G finally unlocked by the Dev-Team! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Headline pretty much says it all, and it’s a big one. Tipping the scales at 377MB (or 190MB for some; see image after the break), the OS X 10.5.6 update is now available via Software Update. We’re sucking it down and will report back with any changes. We strongly encourage you to do the same (if you dare).
Update: Apple has posted the official changelog. Here are the highlights:
- Improves the reliability of AirPort connections, including improvements when roaming in large wireless networks with an Intel-based Mac.
- Improves reliability of Address Book syncing with iPhone and other devices and applications.
- Includes general improvements to gaming performance.
- Includes fixes for possible graphics distortion issues with certain ATI graphics cards.
- Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com.
- Improves Apple File Service performance, especially when using a home directory hosted on an AFP server.
- Improves reliability and performance for AT&T 3G cards.
- Improves printing for USB-based Brother and Canon printers.
- Fixes issues that could cause Time Machine to state the backup volume could not be found.
- Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.
- Adds a Trackpad System Preference pane for portable Macs.
- Personal Engadget favorite: Improves the performance and reliability of Chess.
- Nary a mention of Blu-ray. It’s still hurting, we guess.
[Thanks, Fraser]
Continue reading Mac OS X 10.5.6 now available via Software Update
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Mac OS X 10.5.6 now available via Software Update originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Hey, remember that Acer Aspire One equipped with on-board 3G we spied in a Radio Shack ad the other day? Well guess what? It’s real — and we’ve got the PR to prove it. Just as expected, the netbook is being offered for the teensy price of .99 (coupled with a lengthy and expensive contract with AT&T). The diminutive laptop comes equipped with a single mind-blowing gigabyte of memory and a decently sizeable 160GB hard drive. Besides doing its mobile broadband thing, it also sports 802.11b/g, weighs in at 2.44 lbs., and will never, ever seem worth it in the long run.
Filed under: Laptops
Acer Aspire One goes official on AT&T’s 3G network originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Okay G1 owners, so here’s the end-all answer to your data roaming quandaries. For those not caught up, there has been quite the hubbub going around about the G1’s inability to not suck down data whilst traveling aboard. Allegedly, the handset would continue to digest pricey bits and bytes overseas even after users had selected that data roaming be disabled. Now, T-Mobile has issued an official response (posted in full after the break) to clear things up, and the gist of it is this: for users with a bone stock G1, the “Off” selection in data roaming should work fine, but third-party applications can essentially override this command and wreak havoc on one’s phone bill. From the horse’s mouth: “Some third-party applications available for download on Android Market require access to the internet and have the ability to turn on data roaming when in use. Customers are informed whether an application will use this feature prior to downloading, but should also be aware when traveling outside the country.”
Continue reading T-Mobile produces official statement regarding international G1 data roaming
Filed under: Cellphones
T-Mobile produces official statement regarding international G1 data roaming originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It’s already made it past the
Department of Justice and the
FCC after making a few concessions, and Verizon has now cleared the last major hurdle blocking its
acquisition of Alltel, with the Federal Trade Commission today giving the deal its all-important stamp of approval. Unlike the other regulatory agencies, the FTC apparently didn’t require that Verizon make any further concessions, and instead simply approved an early termination of their antitrust review and indicated that they had “no objections.” For those keeping track, the deal easily pushes Verizon past AT&T to become the largest wireless carrier in the United States and, as we have heard, it’ll also likely have the side effect of some
job cuts from the Alltel benches.
[Via RCR Wireless]
Filed under: Cellphones
FTC clears Verizon acquisition of Alltel, last hurdle crossed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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