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#qotd Here's some tasty-looking hard candy. And here's that same tasty-looking hard candy scanned by an SEM. Tuns out that there's a company offering to stick almost anything under an electron microscope and we can't help but wonder: What to pick? More »

By and large, EA Sports' Season Opener event here at GDC was underwhelming, but one glimmer of newness did manage to shine through. Nearly a year after Active hit stores (video after the break) and encouraged Wii gamers to drop those unwanted pounds before hitting the soft sand in the summer, the company has announced that Active 2.0 (a working title) is currently in development for Wii, PS3, iPod touch and iPhone. We're told that a "new suite of fitness products" will be launching in the fall, with the Active 2.0 program delivering "true fitness results by featuring an innovative wireless control system powered by new leg and arm straps with motion sensors, a heart rate monitor to capture intensity and a new online hub to track and share workout data." Outside of that, details are nonexistent (like how exactly the iPod / iPhone components will factor into this equation), though we get the feeling that Xbox 360 owners may be left out of the party. Here's hoping we're wrong.

Gallery: EA Sports Active 2.0 accessories at GDC 2010

Continue reading EA Sports introduces Active 2.0 at GDC, complete with sensors galore

EA Sports introduces Active 2.0 at GDC, complete with sensors galore originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With popularity comes trouble. Ask any Windows user, or the Notorious BIG. As Twitter's popularity has skyrocketed, it's become the target for various scams, and the Twitter team is now taking action to stop the abuse.

The fight against spam is a consistent one for the Twitter team, but recently, phishing scams have started gaining in popularity. Spread mostly through direct messages (or email notifications about those messages), these scams offer a malignant link that, when clicked, can result in a whole mess of headaches for the user. From viruses to stolen passwords and remote access, these scams are a serious problem for novice Twitterers.

So in response, Twitter has set up a separate service that routes all links submitted to Twitter through a separate service, which detects bad links and wipes them clean. Quoth Twitter:

By routing all links submitted to Twitter through this new service, we can detect, intercept, and prevent the spread of bad links across all of Twitter. Even if a bad link is already sent out in an email notification and somebody clicks on it, we'll be able keep that user safe.

Links will often be shortened to Twitter's own twt.tl domain, but the rest of the machinations of the new service will be undetectable. We'll see more from this service soon, but hopefully it works as promised and puts an end to the malicious Tweeting.

[Via Twitter]

With a click of a mouse, cyclists can get the quickest, and flattest, route between Point A and Point B.

The Nasdaq begins its spectacular collapse, signaling the end of the dot-com boom.

#lego Lego biped robots are a dime a dozen, even while some look pretty sweet. This one is special: It's the first walking Lego robot. And, unlike your usual feet-dragging toy robots, it actually walks by raising its feet. More »

There's no denying that the Mini 5 is real, but up until now, we've had to provide all of our own promotional material. At long last, it seems as if the suits in Round Rock are finally getting around to crafting the first advertisements for the upcoming slate, and while we knew about the 5-inch WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, capacitive touch front buttons, front-facing VGA camera (for video chatting) and the 30-pin docking connector, we weren't aware of Dell's plans to reveal a slew of vivacious color options. If this here flyer proves legitimate, we could eventually see the Mini 5 available in an array of premium finishes and hues (thanks, Design Studio!), and we're hoping for a few different spec builds as well. So, are you opting for the pink, or are you crossing your fingers in hopes that Dell allows you to print that embarrassing shot of you and Mr. T on the rear of one?

Update: Oh, snap! We just landed a few more official slides from an internal Dell document, and it's safe to say that the company is going to call this beauty the Streak. Or, at least that's the internal codename. Better still, it looks as if it'll launch with an Amazon content partnership, which will bring a Kindle e-book reader app, Amazon MP3, Amazon video streams and pretty much any other material that Amazon sells in digital form right to the slate. C'mon now -- how's about a ship date and a price?

Gallery: Dell Streak leaked internal documents

Leaked Dell Streak flyer shows multitude of color options, confirmed specifications originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had a hunch that Pentax was readying a 645 Digital, and sure enough, the company has come clean with that very camera today. The May-bound 40 megapixel 645D is a medium format beast, but unlike similar options from Hasselblad, this one won't actually destroy your hopes of sending four generations of offspring to college. Boasting a 44mm x 33mm sensor, a 3-inch rear LCD and a virtually indestructible chassis, this monster promises high res images that only pros can appreciate, and there's a pair of SD / SDHC card slots for those who love to surround themselves with options. You'll also get a newly designed 11-point AF sensor, a fresh dust removal system, 77-segment multi-pattern metering system and a battery good for around 800 images when fully charged. 'Course, with a retail price of ¥850,000 ($9,442), you'll also expect amenities like an HDR mode, dynamic range expansion and an HDMI output, all of which just so happen to be included. Oh, and if you're in the market for some new glass, there's also a 55mm F2.8 lens that'll ship alongside of this here body for the princely sum of ¥100,000 ($1,110).

Pentax gets official with 40 megapixel 645D medium format camera originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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gollum123 writes "US regulators may dedicate spectrum to free wireless Internet service for some Americans to increase affordable broadband service nationwide, the Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday. The FCC provided few details about how it would carry out such a plan and who would qualify, but will make a recommendation under the National Broadband Plan set for release next week. The agency will determine details later. One way of making broadband more affordable is to 'consider use of spectrum for a free or a very low-cost wireless broadband service,' the FCC said in a statement." Nobody has more than a couple of paragraphs on this story. None of the press coverage mentions the obvious likelihood that any such free network would be heavily filtered, censored, and monitored.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

#multitools Here are a few things you don't have time to do when your car plunges into an icy lake: remove a Leatherman multitool from your glove compartment; unfold it; cut through your seatbelt; refold it; smash through your window. More »

#science If I were Neil deGrasse Tyson—host of the Pluto Files and director of the Hayden Planetarium—I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Not after reading the hate mail from thousands of outraged American kids. More »

It sure took 'em long enough -- just over four months if you're keeping score -- but MSI has finally shipped its next-generation netbook. The AMD-powered Wind12 U230 has left the docks today in two distinct flavors (the U230-033 and U230-040), with both touting Windows 7 Home Premium, a 12.1-inch WXGA (1,366 x 768) display, ATI's Radeon HD3200 graphics, 2GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, a 6-cell battery and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The duo also features three USB sockets, VGA / HDMI outputs, an Ethernet port, audio in / out, a 4-in-1 card reader and a chassis that weighs in at 3.3 pounds. As for the differences? The former ships with an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 under the hood and a 250GB HDD, while the latter sports an Athlon X2 L335 CPU and a 320GB platter. Both are available for the taking right now at NewEgg, though it's on you to decide if the the second model is really worth the extra $50 over the $429.99 base price.

Continue reading MSI starts shipping two 12.1-inch, AMD-powered Wind12 U230 netbooks

MSI starts shipping two 12.1-inch, AMD-powered Wind12 U230 netbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#googleapps Google just launched a new Google Apps Marketplace where users can discover and deploy third-party cloud applications that integrate with their existing Google Apps accounts. More »

Surely you remember those Sixense motion controls that we caught lounging around at Razer's CES booth, right? Yeah. Today at the Game Developers Conference, both outfits have teamed up in order to distribute the Ultra-Precise Motion Controller SDK and FPS utility library via Steam, which should give devs the ability to create new games and port existing titles for use with the aforementioned sticks. We're told that these new tools will require "require virtually no knowledge of the inner workings of the controller," enabling coders to craft titles that take full advantage of the six degrees of freedom. Will this turn the PC into the next Wii? We kind of doubt it, but at least someone's looking out for non-console gamers who have a secret obsession with Nintendo's Wiimote.

Continue reading Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam

Razer and Sixense distribute SDK and FPS shooter utility through Steam originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eldavojohn writes "A new report from Games Industry indicates that MMO gamers in the United States paid $3.8 billion to play last year, with an analysis of five European countries bringing the total close to $4.5 billion USD. In America, the report estimated that payments for boxed content and client downloads amounted to a measly $400 million, while the subscriptions came to $2.38 billion. Hopefully that will fund some developer budgets for bigger and better MMOs yet to come. The study also found that roughly a quarter of the US population plays some form of MMO. Surely MMOs are shaping up to be a juicy industry, and a market that can satisfy people of all walks of life."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

#zinnet Sometimes Wi-Fi just doesn't do the trick when streaming something to several devices. Zinnet's Brite-View LinkE system will cover you there by allowing you to stream things over a powerline network to four ethernet devices and at up to 200Mbps. More »

#google We just finished watching Google's live announcement of the launch of the Google App Marketplace. Keep reading for information on what they're offering users and developers. Oh, and know that the Marketplace is live today. Updating. More »

We know you've barely recovered from our Devour review, but Moto just threw another Blur-ified phone in our laps this afternoon - the CLIQ XT. We've been playing around with the Android 1.5-based, Flash Lite-supported, multitouch-capable handset for the last couple of hours -- but before we grace you with our first impressions, just a fair warning: we don't yet know the price of the new T-Mobile Android handset, though Motorola did promise us that it will hit shelves this month. With that said, hit the break for a quick rundown of our early thoughts.

Gallery: Motorola CLIQ XT with MotoBlur hands-on

Continue reading Motorola CLIQ XT hands-on

Motorola CLIQ XT hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, we're going to be straight with you: you're not going to like this. See, Microsoft just showed us a pair of 3D games running on its ASUS Windows Phone prototype and built with its brand new XNA Game Studio 4.0, but wouldn't let us nab a single photo or video of the process. What we can tell you is that they exist, they work, and at least Microsoft tossed us some screenshots to wave in your face. The two titles are The Harvest (pictured), a good looking touch-controlled dungeon crawler with destructible environments, being developed by Luma Arcade; and Battle Punks, a less impressive one-on-one sword fighting Facebook game by Gravity Bear that's being ported over. We didn't get to see any full motion 3D camera moves, since Battle Punks is just composed of two characters duking it out, and The Harvest has a fixed camera and some pre-rendered elements, but there were indeed some real polygons being crunched before our eyes at a full resolution (no upscaling), alpha-rev, choppy framerate, and we were assured that full screen 3D was possible. We also got to see one of our first glimpses of universal notifications on Windows Phone: Achievement unlock notices (also pictured above) that slide down from the top of the screen in a black bar and then slide back, and can't be interacted with. Follow after the break for some more nerdy details, along with a video of VisualStudio in action, and screenshots of the two games are in the gallery below.

Gallery: Windows Phone 7 Series XNA screenshots

Continue reading Microsoft shows off XNA games running on Windows Phone, full 3D is a go

Microsoft shows off XNA games running on Windows Phone, full 3D is a go originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#cartoon Some days, it happens two or three times. I bet that you and most of your friends and family find themselves in the same situation too. [Loldwell] More »