Tag Archives: ion

Alt-week 20.10.12: our oldest primate ancestor, the birth of the moon and a planet with four stars

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Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

Alt-week 20.10.12: our oldest ancestor, the birth of the moon and a planet with four stars

Most mornings, we wake up with little to no idea what happened the day before, let alone last week. Fortunately, they don't let us run important scientific research projects. Or maybe they do, and we just forgot? This week (and most others as it goes) we definitely leave it to the pros, as we get some insightful glimpses at some important origins. Ball Lightning, the moon and even us humans are the benefactors of those tireless scientists, who work hard to explain where it all comes from. There's also a planet with four stars that sees the first few paragraphs of its origin story excitedly written out. One thing we never forget, however, is that this is alt-week.

Continue reading Alt-week 20.10.12: our oldest primate ancestor, the birth of the moon and a planet with four stars

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Alt-week 20.10.12: our oldest primate ancestor, the birth of the moon and a planet with four stars originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ion The Game action cam has built-in WiFi and 2.5-inch display, we go hands-on (video)

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Ion The Game action cam has builtin WiFi and 25inch display, we go handson

Between big guns like GoPro and Contour and big names like Sony, the action camera market is getting pretty full, pretty fast. Back in May, we saw the arrival of the Air Pro WiFi from Ion, an oblong mountable camera with an add-on WiFi module, and now the company's got another addition to the line, the punnily-named (wait for it) Ion The Game (get it? Eye? Eye-on The Game?). The whole "action" part is far less pronounced here. This sports cam is intended to be more stationary than its predecessor -- mounted on a still spot to capture soccer games (don't let them catch you calling it that here in Europe) and to help you critique your golf swing.

The key differences here -- aside from its boxier shape -- are the 2.5-inch display and the WiFi, which is built directly into the device, rather than relying on an add-on. The display isn't much to write home about. It's small, a bit dull in the color department and a little choppy. It'll get the job done though, when it comes to monitoring action (or lack of action, we guess) on the fly. The WiFi meanwhile, adheres to the company's whole "shoot-and-share" motto, letting to send videos directly to Facebook and the like.

The camera looks reasonably rugged, with a plastic protected lens -- it's also water-resistant up to 10 meters. The Game records to SD cards and will be arriving by the end of the year, priced at an admittedly lofty €329 here in Europe.

Gallery: Ion Your Game sports camera

Continue reading Ion The Game action cam has built-in WiFi and 2.5-inch display, we go hands-on (video)

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Ion The Game action cam has built-in WiFi and 2.5-inch display, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SteelSeries Free Touchscreen Gaming Controls and Free Mobile Gaming Controller aren’t free, we go hands-on (video)

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SteelSeries Free Touchscreen Gaming Controls and Free Mobile Gaming Controller aren't free, we go handson

The capacitive touch capabilities of today's devices are perfect for a great many things -- but traditional gaming just isn't among them. When it comes to "fixing" gaming controls on touch devices, there are two avenues of approach, and SteelSeries is headed down both of them: touchscreen augmenting nubs, and wireless gamepads. The firm lumps both of these solutions into its new "freedom to play" line of accessories -- and though both of them echo products we've seen before, these peripherals play their roles exceedingly well.

Gallery: SteelSeries Free Mobile Gaming Controller hands-on

Continue reading SteelSeries Free Touchscreen Gaming Controls and Free Mobile Gaming Controller aren't free, we go hands-on (video)

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SteelSeries Free Touchscreen Gaming Controls and Free Mobile Gaming Controller aren't free, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract

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Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract

In the tech industry, time (and the fleeting interests of geekdom) waits for no one product. So, it's understandable if you've already forgotten about Sony Mobile's US flagship: a sleekly designed, mid-range contender known as the Xperia Ion. It's been nearly six months since the electronics giant officially unveiled the device at CES and, for brand loyalists still clinging to the edge of their seats, the wait's nearly over. Starting June 24th, AT&T will be offering the LTE handset -- a first for the newly unified wireless outfit stateside -- for $99 with a new two-year agreement (insert applause for Nokia and its precedent setting Lumia 900 here).

So, what do you get for that compelling price tag? For starters, there's that gorgeous 4.6-inch 720p HD Reality display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S3 CPU, 16GB of inbuilt storage (expandable up to an additional 32GB via SD card), 12-megapixel rear camera with Exmor R sensor, PlayStation Certification and a healthy 1,900mAh battery. Whether that spec list and associated on-contract pricing will pack enough of a power punch to win over Android elitists remains to be seen -- for now, this mid-2012 phone'll be shipping with Gingerbread 2.3.7 on board. That's not to say it won't ever see a much needed upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich; it's certainly on the way, there's just no telling precisely when it'll arrive. If the company's recent track record is any indication, however, the Ion stands a very good chance of joining the Xperia upgrade brigade sometime soon. Hit up the break to peruse the official presser in all its hyperbolic glory.

Continue reading Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract

Sony Xperia Ion hits AT&T June 24th for $99 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ion launches Air Pro WiFi, helps you document your morning commute (video)

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Ion's officially releasing its Air Pro camera that we put through its paces back in March. The sports shooter is designed to be strapped to a helmet or extreme-sports gear to document your extreme adventures in high definition. It'll also come with 8GB of free storage from MiMedia to share your death-risking achievements over the internet. Budget models are available starting at $230, but for the full package (with the WiFi module) it'll set you back $350 from today. Oh, and if you'd like to see what you're expected to do with the gear, you can head past the jump for test footage.

Continue reading Ion launches Air Pro WiFi, helps you document your morning commute (video)

Ion launches Air Pro WiFi, helps you document your morning commute (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 19:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review

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The iCade Arcade Cabinet famously began life as an April Fool's joke, pulling the video game equivalent of Pinocchio by transforming in a real salable product. The $100 arcade machine-shaped iPad enclosure / controller hit the sweet spot between functionality and retro gaming nostalgia, proving successful enough that Ion found itself with a solid reason to expand the line. Notable amongst the new arrivals are the iCade Core, which offers up the same feature set as the original iCade in a more portable joystick form, and the iCade Mobile, a re-imagining of the product as an oversized iPhone case. The Core carries the same price tag as its predecessor, while the Mobile clocks in at $20 less. So, are these additions worthy of the iCade name? Or would the line have been better served as a one-off? Insert a coin and find out after the break.

Gallery: Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review

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Ion iCade Mobile and iCade Core review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo hands-on (video)

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We just happened upon the Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo, which is sold as the SO-03HD and recently launched with the Japanese carrier. As many of you are aware, the handset is a variant of the Xperia Ion, but with a few features for the locals such as a built-in TV tuner, mobile payment and infrared support. The Acro HD offers a respectable list of specs, which include a Qualcomm MSM 8260 SoC with a dual-core 1.5GHz CPU, a 4.3-inch, 720p display and a 12.1 megapixel camera that includes Sony's Exmor R sensor and is capable of shooting 1080p video. It also includes 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and an 1,840mAh battery. As a final notable aspect, the Xperia Acro HD is waterproof and can remain submerged in up to one meter of water for a half-hour.

The phone is available in a variety of colors, which include Blue, Pink, White and Black -- the last being the particular variant that we sighted today. While there are many aspects of the phone we liked, such as its high-quality display and refined aesthetics, a number of its design elements such as the extendable TV antenna and atrocious number of doors for ports struck us as quite flimsy. The phone runs Android 2.3.7 with a heavy amount of skinning from the carrier, which you can see in our hands-on video after the break.

Sean Cooper contributed to this report

Continue reading Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo hands-on (video)

Sony Xperia Acro HD for NTT DoCoMo hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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