Today, we review LG’s latest handset, gain insight into how significantly the Kinect affects the Xbox One’s performance, go hands-on with Google’s secretive 3D-mapping tablet and learned about the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook. Read on for Engadget’s…
Technical
Route-tracing robot shows where bike lanes should be
Tired of having to share the road with cars while you’re biking? You’re not alone. The marketers at Radwende have built a route-tracing art robot to make a case for more bike lanes in Wiesbaden, a German city frequently considered hostile to pedal…
Rezence wireless charging standard now supports laptops and tablets
Wireless charging is a technology often reserved for smaller devices — smartphones, watches and electronic toothbrushes — but that’s about to change. The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) just updated its Rezence charging standard to support…
The Secret Service’s proposed Twitter sarcasm detector is totally going to work
Governments are often eager to watch out for online threats, but it’s sometimes tough to spot the real dangers when the internet is rife with sarcasm; just witness the confusion when someone jokingly threatens to blow up an airport. For the US Secret…
New smartphone chip will beam high-definition holograms as early as 2015
Just imagine: a smartphone that projects 3D holograms into thin-air. If you can wait until the end of next year, and if you can believe the claims being made by a well-funded company called Ostendo, then your next handset could be capable of just…
With three SIM slots, Acer’s Liquid E700 is a phone for frequent travelers
Not that you’d know from its formulaic product name (seriously, Acer, you’ve gotta switch things up), but the 5-inch Liquid E700 Android smartphone has an interesting feature geared toward travelers: three SIM slots. Dual-SIM phones are one thing,…
Kickstarter project lets you print eerie 3D x-rays for $99
If your average 3D-printed paperweight isn’t morbidly realistic enough, then here’s an interesting alternative. It’s an object that consists of thin layers of plexiglass, each of which has been printed with regular ink before being stacked in a…
The Big Picture: Preparing for the Moon
During the Apollo program, NASA sent many of its astronauts to Hawaii’s Big Island for field training in the run up to missions. The surface of the Moon isn’t an environment that’s easy to replicate, and the volcanic island chain’s barren, rocky…
Google wants you to (safely) search the web while driving
While phones like the Moto X let you issue voice commands without touching the device, they’re still not ideal for driving; if you search for something on the web, you’ll still have to take your eyes off the road to see the results. That could change…
AT&T and Verizon are tied for the most US cellular customers
AT&T and Verizon have long dominated the American cellular landscape, but there’s always been a top dog (more recently, Verizon). In the first quarter of the year, however, something strange happened — the carriers virtually tied each other for…
The Big Picture: Exploring the deep blue in a wearable submarine
Developed and built by Nuytco Research, this exosuit is made from hard metal and allows divers to operate safely down to a depth of 1000 feet. The suit has four 1.6 horsepower propulsion thrusters, fiber optic gigabit ethernet, and a host of…
Rdio’s Android app finally lets you listen to live albums correctly
Imagine this, if you will. You’re sitting in a recliner listening to Electric Light Orchestra’s Time, and just as Prologue gives way to Twilight — nothing — and then music. Those odious little pauses are hell when you’re really trying to let…
Playdate: We’re livestreaming Mario Kart 8 for Wii U!
Welcome, ladygeeks and gentlenerds, to the new era of gaming. The one where you get to watch, and comment, as other people livestream gameplay from next-gen consoles. Because games! They’re fun! Mario Kart 8 isn’t actually the eighth Mario Kart…
Exploring the best of the best at this year’s White House Science Fair
The annual White House Science Fair is, above all else, an amazing public relations play. President Obama hangs out with a few dozen of America’s brightest students who show off their latest work and get celebrated for it. Everyone wins, right? In…
Google takes American ISPs to task over video buffering
You don’t like when YouTube videos pause during playback, and neither does Google. More often than not, your internet connection is to blame, shifting the responsibility to provide consistent performance from Google to your ISP. In an effort to…