Evolution

Apple's latest developer builds for iOS 5 contain a snippet of code that mentions LTE, according to enthusiast site MacRumors, prompting speculation that the company may be testing 4G internally.

Peeking into the iOS 5 firmware for a couple of developer builds, MacRumors found a property list (.plist file) that points to LTE, or Long Term Evolution. Uncovered only in builds for the GSM iPhone 4 and CDMA iPad 2, the LTE.plist file was found to be related to an application that Apple uses for field testing.

The apparent discovery follows reports from Boy Genius Report a week … Read more

Six years. That's nearly how long it's been since the Xbox 360 first debuted back in the fall of 2005. The next year, the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 followed.

Typically, new consoles emerge no later than five years after the debut of the last iteration. This generation seems to be the exception. Perhaps that's because of the ripples of a recession, but we can also credit the Wii, PS3, and 360 for being hardy, versatile consoles. In fact, looking back at what these systems were compared with what they are now, it's hard not to … Read more

The battle between LTE and WiMax for 4G dominance may soon be over with LTE declared the champ, according to a report out today from IHS iSuppli.

Though WiMax still enjoys a slight edge for now, adoption of LTE (long-term evolution) will surpass that of its 4G rival sometime next year. By 2014, the number of LTE subscribers will hit 303.1 million versus only 33.4 million for WiMax, said IHS.

"With WiMAX enjoying a two- to three-year head start in next-generation network deployments, it presently enjoys a major advantage in market share in the 4G segment," … Read more

If you were following along with our live blog this morning, you know the big news: the Nintendo 3DS is coming March 27 for $250. But what about the games? A dozen or so titles were ready for some hands-on action this afternoon, and we got a chance to play the majority of them. Nintendo also showed us some of the built-in software that'll be on every 3DS, including the Mii Maker and AR Games.

The following titles will see launch-day or launch-window releases, between March 27 and E3 2011, according to Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime.

Mii Maker Miis are coming to the 3DS, and the Mii Maker app is preinstalled to allow for their creation. Better yet, the front-facing camera can be used in tandem to help make the process a bit more accurate. When we tried it out, the resulting Mii was a bit insulting, but after a few minor tweaks it actually did resemble our photo. Creating Miis from scratch is just like the Wii experience we're all used to.

AR Games AR Games (augmented reality games) will use a Nintendo playing card to manipulate the world through the 3DS' cameras. We had some time with a simple target-shooting game, and the effect is pretty impressive. Even better, the game requires the player to move around the virtual play space as well, adding a whole new dimension to the experience.

Steel Diver Once a tech demo, Steel Diver is getting the full game treatment at launch on the 3DS. Players control a submarine by using touch sliders that control height and acceleration. Torpedos can also be fired at oncoming obstacles, but the section of the game we played focused more on avoiding colliding with the ocean floor.

Kid Icarus Uprising After about 10 minutes with Kid Icarus Uprising--the very game Nintendo debuted the 3DS with at E3 2010--we're anticipating that the control scheme might be this title's biggest hurdle. We played two parts, one that felt like an on-rails shooter, the other a sort of modified third-person action segment.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Evolution Robotics' Mint floor-cleaning robot was back at CES this year with a funky dance routine that turned heads.

Five Mints got funky at the Evolution booth with a choreographed tribute to "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. The routine was a scaled-down version of a dance involving 12 Mints. The company has spent three weeks putting the routine together. … Read more

Vibrating platform exercise machines claim to give you a workout without the work. The VibroGym Diamond VG Evolution does just that, giving you the feeling of exercising so hard that you throw up--without the exercise. In fact, all you have to do is look at the thing and you go straight to being sick in your mouth.

It's covered in thousands of our old nemesis, the Swarovski crystal. Fresh from assaulting the Olympus Pen E-P1 and a host of other gadgets, the Swarovski crystal has swarmed over the Diamond VG Evolution in an unspeakable nexus of utter pointlessness.

Read … Read more

CHICAGO - Two of the most popular next generation wireless technologies are close to getting their official 4G moniker from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The ITU, which is an agency within the United Nations, is the International standards body that officially designates wireless technologies as 1G, 2G, 3G and now 4G. This week at a meeting in China the group took a step closer to making the technologies LTE or Long Term Evolution and WiMax official 4G standards.

Specifically, the ITU voted that LTE-Advanced technology, meets the criteria it uses to classify the technology as 4G. The ITU also … Read more

MetroPCS Communications opened its second 4G LTE market today, this one in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

The new service follows the carrier's initial 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) launch in Las Vegas last week. As in Vegas, the Dallas-Forth Worth service will offer prepaid monthly plans starting at $55, which include unlimited talk, text, and data, and require no contract.

But Dallas-Forth Worth customers will also get a few additional features. MetroStudio, available through the $60 monthly plan, will offer downloads and ringtones as well as video content from NBC Universal and other providers, MetroPCS said. A new combined … Read more

It's the 21st century, and robots are supposed to be doing everything for us now. As with personal jet packs, that hasn't happened. But Evolution Robotics' Mint is one of a number of floor-cleaning robots designed to lighten the housework load.

Announced at CES earlier this year and shipping this fall, Mint is an automatic floor cleaner--not a vacuum like iRobot's Roomba. You put a wet or dry dust cloth on the removable cleaning pad, push a button, and Mint gets to work.

Mint is somewhat comparable to low-cost dusting robots like the $50 RoboMop, but at $249 it's almost in the same league as more sophisticated floor-washing machines like iRobot's Scooba. Scooba retails for $299 and up, and has been on the market for nearly five years.

I happened to have a Scooba 350 at home, so when I got my hands on a Mint, I decided to compare the bots' performance on my hardwood and tile floors. They're two very different machines, but let's see how they stack up. … Read more