Engadget Mobile Podcast 132 – 03.31.2012

It was a relatively slow news week. So what? We'll make those lemons into podcast lemonade any day, and you, friend, are invited to our lemonade stand. We take credit cards.

Hosts: Myriam Joire (tnkgrl), Brad Molen, Joseph Volpe
Guest: Andrew Munchbach
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Tycho - Coastal Brake (Ghostly International)

00:01:48 - RIM announces Q4 2012 earnings, Jim Balsillie resigns from board, company plans to refocus on enterprise
00:04:30 - RIM CEO Thorsten Heins reportedly 'clearing house,' laying off numerous executives
00:10:00 - RIM sticking with consumer goods, just 'refocusing' on enterprise
00:18:55 - Android 4.0.4 rolls out to HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus and GSM Nexus S
00:40:47 - Samsung ships five million Galaxy Notes in just five months
00:54:04 - Conversion kit lets you push your RAZR to the Maxx for $110
00:55:30 - LG Lucid becomes official on Verizon, can be yours March 29th for $80
01:02:05 - Nano-SIM standard vote postponed while RIM accuses Apple of cheating
01:05:55 - T-Mobile's next MyTouch: Huawei Ascend G312 QWERTY hands-on
01:17:05 - Nokia Lumia 900 to hit AT&T on April 8th with $100 price tag in tow (video)
01:18:55 - AT&T confirms HTC Titan II to join Lumia 900 on April 8th for $200 (video)
01:33:37 - Samsung Galaxy S ICS-like 'value pack' upgrade officially released in Korea

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Engadget Mobile Podcast 132 - 03.31.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Enigma: Puzzling Wooden Floor Design By Jamie Beckwith

Floor tiles have moved up a few notches since the vinyl foam tiles first lined the nursery.  And, though these tiles may remind you (somewhat) of those jigsaw like EPA pieces, nowhere have I seen floor tiles so elegant that they must be the center of attention in any room they are laid - the hand-crafted wooden puzzle floor tiles of Jamie Beckwith.


Enigma: Puzzling Wooden Floor Design By Jamie Beckwith

Floor tiles have moved up a few notches since the vinyl foam tiles first lined the nursery.  And, though these tiles may remind you (somewhat) of those jigsaw like EPA pieces, nowhere have I seen floor tiles so elegant that they must be the center of attention in any room they are laid - the hand-crafted wooden puzzle floor tiles of Jamie Beckwith.


BMW adds extra sportiness to its i-series lineup, unveils i8 Concept Spyder

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We've swooned over BMW's i3 and i8 plug-in gasoline electric hybrids for some time now, so naturally our hearts raced today when the company announced its latest addition to the series, the i8 Concept Spyder. What you're looking at is essentially a sportier version of the i8 Coupe, with the appropriate accents and design tweaks to match. So, what's different in this variant of the nearly gull-winged wonder with a 96 kW / 131hp electric motor up front and 164 kW / 223hp gasoline engine on back? BMW notes that the vehicle features a shorter wheelbase and overall length (all while maintaining its 50-50 weight distribution), a slighter darker interior and refreshed paint job on its exterior, topless roof and even a pair of matching folded kickboards(!) that stow in the back. BMW hasn't mentioned when they'll be showing this Spyder in flesh, but as Autoblog notes, the New York Auto show is only a week way -- and we'll be sure to let you know if we spot it ourselves. In the meantime, you can zip over to Autoblog and the press release after the break for the details.

Continue reading BMW adds extra sportiness to its i-series lineup, unveils i8 Concept Spyder

BMW adds extra sportiness to its i-series lineup, unveils i8 Concept Spyder originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tabber LED Light Sleeve Helps You Learn to Play with a Real Guitar

With the music games out there these days, there are already some high tech ways to learn the guitar. However, most of these don’t let you play with an actual guitar, strings and frets, so it’s not exactly a realistic training experience. And those that do require that you’re tethered to a gaming console and/or use their chosen guitar. Enter the Tabber, a new product currently in development to help you learn to play with any guitar of your choice.

tabber guitar learning assistant

Created by Rob Sanchez, Ryan Rogowski and Kipp Bradford, the Tabber is a kit which can be attached to the neck of your guitar, using an array of bright LEDs to illuminate the appropriate finger points along the frets of your guitar. What’s really cool about the Tabber is that you can connect it to your smartphone, and have it light up based on the chords programmed into an app. This lets you learn on the go, and without being tied down to a computer or video game console.

The Tabber will work with either electric or acoustic guitars. It’s currently in the prototype stages, and raising funds for a production run over on Kickstarter now. While the prototype still looks a little bulky, the production version will be extremely slim and not interfere with fret fingering at all. A pledge of $150(USD) will get you all the parts to build your own Tabber, while $200 or more will get you a fully-assembled Tabber kit.


Google Maps 8-Bit Comes to the NES

While we’re reasonably certain that the pranksters at Google have jumped the gun with one of their big April Fools pranks, we’re still the slightest bit hopeful that Google Maps for the Nintendo Entertainment System is a real thing. It’s almost surely not, but I still like the idea of bringing today’s software and websites to old school consoles.

google maps nes

According to Google, the new Google Maps for NES will ship on a cartridge, offering internet access directly from your old 8-bit console. A gigantic farm of computers in the cloud are said to transform the regular Google Maps experience into a version usable on the NES.

google maps 8 bit

Here, let’s let Google Product Management Director Ken Tokusei explain it for you…

You gotta love the part where you blow into the cartridge “to fix bugs.” For now, you can play around with the 8-bit style Google Maps over at maps.google.com, then clicking on the “Quest” button in the upper right-hand corner, or by simply clicking this link. Be sure to check out Street View for more pixelated fun.