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There's no question that NVIDIA's Optimus system -- which enables a discrete GPU to operate when a machine is taxed and a power-sipping IGP to function when you're involved in less strenuous tasks -- has changed the way the world looks at laptop graphics, but it hasn't been able to avoid a fair amount of criticism about the controlling interface. With the July release of the monthly Verde drivers, the company has just rolled out a revised UI that provides "even more visibility into how Optimus is working and allows you even more control over how Optimus operates." The newest Optimus control panel, as well as a brief demonstration of what's been tweaked, is available for viewing just after the break, but it's on you to hunt down drivers for whatever rig you call your own.

Continue reading NVIDIA's refreshed Optimus interface sheds more light on what your GPU is doing

NVIDIA's refreshed Optimus interface sheds more light on what your GPU is doing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Europe spokesperson Mark Moons caused quite a stir this morning when he tweeted that the company would begin rolling out Android Froyo updates to devices tomorrow, starting with the Desire, but we wouldn't get too excited yet -- HTC tells us that it's possible a rollout will begin tomorrow, but nothing's finalized yet pending some final testing. We've certainly got our fingers crossed -- and we're sure Desire owners the world over will be hitting that System Updates button nonstop for the next few days.

Continue reading HTC beginning Froyo rollout tomorrow? Maybe, maybe not

HTC beginning Froyo rollout tomorrow? Maybe, maybe not originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While us Yankees are celebrating the one small victory for all that's right and good represented by the recent DMCA jailbreak exception, things are looking a little bleaker for UK gadget-heads this afternoon. London's High Court has ruled that R4 cards, which are used by homebrewers and the occasional no-goodnik game pirate to circumvent security on the Nintendo DS, cannot be sold, advertised, or imported into the UK. According to Joystiq, Nintendo claims they've seized over 100,000 R4 devices in the country since 2009. When asked for a comment, the Queen was all like, "What?"

UK bans R4 cards, makes Nintendo DS pirating 'double illegal' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google has announced Android's new attempt to curb piracy, an online "licensing service" that automatically contacts the Android Market when an app is launched. The new mechanism is available to developers now, becoming standard "over the next few months." [Android Developers via Engadget] More »

At the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo, Satoshi Nariai demonstrates something called the head-mounted Mobile Video Communication System. With acceleration and position sensors built into a head-mounted display, the remote camera moves in relation to your head's movements. The researcher sees this being used primarily for videoconferencing where he thinks it will promote effective communication by allowing eye contact. Of course, there's one problem with that -- if you're both wearing large displays on your face, how could you possibly make eye contact? Unless, of course, you paint eyes onto the outside of the display itself, Loony Tunes-style. That said, it's still an impressive piece of gear. See it in action after the break.

Continue reading Head-mounted display controls video camera, keeps you painfully single

Head-mounted display controls video camera, keeps you painfully single originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#data According to a study, Verizon smartphone users use more data than iPhone users. That's right, on average, Verizon smartphones—Android, webOS, and Windows Mobile phones—pull in 421 MB a month of data. iPhone users only use 338MB. More »

Copy protection has always been a concern in the Android Market, primarily because applications can be sideloaded onto phones without a root or other modification from the end user. In a brief announcement made today, Eric Chu has made clear that a new method for protecting the work of paid app creators will be implemented long-term, with the plan being to "replace the current Android Market copy-protection mechanism over the next few months." This new "licensing service" is available now for those that want in, providing developers with a secure mechanism that can ping a Market License Server upon launch in order to see if a particular app was indeed purchased legitimately. It's hard to say how exactly this will affect usability (specifically in offline scenarios), but it's certainly an interesting twist to the whole situation. Expect to hear lots of growling on both sides as more and more apps opt to take advantage.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

New 'licensing service' replacing existing copy protection method in Android Market originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#photography It's the quintessential landscape photo: the sunset, nature's own daily-painted masterpiece of texture, color and light. And for this week's Shooting Challenge, I want you to go out and capture the poor, workhorse of a star's soul. More »

#sprint Thanks to the popularity of Evo, Sprint gained 111,000 net subscribers in the second quarter, the first time the company has seen net subscriber growth in three years. More »

Lucas123 writes "Even after the introduction of technologies such as thin provisioning, capacity reclamation and storage monitoring and reporting software, 60% to 70% of data capacity remains unused in data centers due to over provisioning for applications and misconfiguring data storage systems. While the price of storage resource management software can be high, the cost of wasted storage is even higher with 100TB equalling $1 million when human resources, floor space, and electricity is figured in. 'It's a bit of a paradox. Users don't seem to be willing to spend the money to see what they have,' said Andrew Reichman, an analyst at Forrester Research."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

#itunes The iPad was supposed to herald a new era in publishing. But the growing rift between Apple and Time Inc. shows that the early troubles clouding digital magazines have only gotten worse. So: is iTunes a mailbox or a newsstand? More »

Not interested in paying $4.99 for an issue of a magazine on your iPad? Well, Time Inc. execs don't seem to be too keen on the idea either. As Peter Kafka of All Things Digital reports, Time was planning to launch a subscription version of its Sports Illustrated iPad app last month in which you'd pay Time directly, but Apple apparently rejected the app at the last minute and left Time with no other choice than to sell issues one at a time for the usual $4.99. What's more, some Time Inc. execs have reportedly "been going nuts" over the situation, which is complicated even further by the fact that some companies like The Wall Street Journal do have a different arrangement for billing customers directly. As for Apple, it simply notes that it supports two platforms for publishers: the "open" HTML5, and the "curated" App Store, while Time insists that it will offer in-app subscriptions sometime "later this year."

Time Inc. execs said to be frustrated over lack of iPad magazine subcriptions originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#dogs This is a very niche product for a.) those who want to move overseas with their dogs, or b.) Mariah Carey. Who knew dogs needed additional oxygen supplies when flying at altitudes above 8,000 feet? More »

#unconfirmed Everyone's trying to fix the iPhone 4's attenuation problem! Best Buy is reportedly giving away free invisibleSHIELDs to any unhappy iPhone 4 owner. Meaning you didn't even have to buy your iPhone 4 from Best Buy to take advantage. More »

Someone should really tell T-Mobile USA it's got a rather large hole that needs plugged. Hot on the heels of the (presumably) T-Mob-bound G1 Blaze leak comes this duo, which includes a purported leak of the myTouch HD (or 3G HD) as well as a web portal that quite clearly prepares us for the launch of the carrier's first HSPA+ smartphone. Of course, there's no official confirmation that the handset you're peering at above is anything more than a fan render, but it certainly has a look of authenticity to it; sadly, there aren't any rumored specifications to tag alongside the JPG, but it's a pretty safe bet that this one will run some flavor of Android and rely heavily on screen presses for letter input. As for the promo page? Scrutineers have drawn a link between it and the Vanguard that we peeked a few weeks back, so feel free to let your imagination run a bit wild there. Looks like it's gearing up to be quite the second half for America's number two GSM operator.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Purported myTouch HD leaks out alongside promise of T-Mobile's first HSPA+ smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#whiteiphone The Street (same people who claimed 1.5 years of free service for the iPhone at launch), now claims that the white iPhone delay is caused by light leaking out the edges, sides and back of the white phone. More »

#lego Think this Instructables DIYer created these headphones just by gluing a few Lego bricks onto an old pair of headphones? O, ye of little faith. Look closer—these illustrate some bona fide crafty skills. [Instructables] More »

The company's not committing to any US carriers just yet (ahem), but LG is already puffing up its chest and talking big about its impending Windows Phone 7 release plans. To date, all we've had to go on was Microsoft's vow of seeing WP7 devices on store shelves before this holiday season, but now Ken Hong, an LG representative in Seoul, has offered a wee bit more insight regarding his company in particular. To quote: "We have a deep relationship with Microsoft so expect to have a couple [of Windows Phone 7 handsets] by the end of this year." That aligns rather nicely with what we heard ourselves back in Feburary, and given that LG's mobile division has seen some rather unsightly losses in its most recent quarterly earnings, we're guessing the company's more than eager to push out the next big thing.

LG aiming to ship 'a couple' of Windows Phone 7 devices by year-end originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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#badnews The breast cancer rate is 10% higher on people's left side than right. Why? Some researchers think it's because people tend to sleep on their right side, and their boxsprings are pulling in electromagnetic radiation from FM and TV transmissions. More »

#space Anyone visiting the International Space Station from 2014 won't have any excuses for poor timekeeping, with the cold-atom clock being sent up there as part of the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) project. More »