Hyundai Sonata and Veloster owners have had some level of remote access for a year now, but the latest version of the Blue Link app does even more. Along with remote start, door lock / unlock and control of the horn and lights, you can now run vehicle diagnostics, send POIs across from your phone for later in-dash navigation, and even locate and manage multiple Blue Link-equipped cars. Sound complicated? Not if you run a cab firm, or if you check out the twelve new instructional videos on Hyundai’s YouTube channel below.

Since the official launch at MWC, ASUS has been mum on how many hours its upcoming PadFone can stay on the treadmill for, but earlier today, Engadget spotted an official promotional video — which has since been removed from ASUS’s YouTube channel — that mentioned 16 hours of battery for the phone itself, 63 for tablet mode and 102 for laptop mode. Something smells funny here so they pinged ASUS, and guess what? Those turned out to be just continuous talk time over 2G, so perhaps said video clip was pulled to be re-edited.

Conveniently, ASUS was also kind enough to share some very realistic battery life figures from the lab. With the corresponding screen set to 137 nits (about half the brightness), you get the following for phone mode, tablet mode and laptop mode, respectively: 2.6 hours, 10.7 hours and 17 hours of continuous WiFi browsing; and 2.1 hours, 8.9 hours and 14.1 hours of continuous 3G browsing. Just as promised before, the PadFone Station (the tablet) and the PadFone Station Dock (the keyboard) do seem to pump up the battery by about five-fold and nine-fold max, respectively.

Now sure, these may make the 1,520mAh battery inside the phone look feeble and silly, but do bear in mind that these aren’t the “up to” numbers.

SOURCE via Engadget Chinese

Microsoft has updated its SkyDrive cloud storage and sharing app for Windows Phone — you know, the one that offers more free storage than a certain competitor. New features include a batch-select tool to make moving files around easier while on the go, the ability to directly manage folder permissions and the quick sharing of files with approved recipients in your People Hub. Version 2.0 is currently available for download in the Marketplace — even for low-end Windows Phones.

In other news, Microsoft has revealed pricing for its just-launched Skydrive app on Windows desktops, setting you back $10, $25, or $50 a year for an additional 20GB, 50GB or 100GB. Scrapped in the process is the 25 gigs of free storage that Microsoft once offered to new users, now dropping that pro-bono capacity to just 7GBs, save for the lucky few that opted in before the company announced its new pricing structure.

The upgrade from the new 7GB limit to the previous 25GB for existing users is a limited time loyalty offer, so be sure to manage your storage as soon as possible to avoid the new limits.

SOURCE via Microsoft

Can’t say we’re surprised, but Meizu’s finally giving us the lowdown on the quad-core variant of its flagship Android smartphone. Simply dubbed the MX Quad-core, this new device will be powered by a Cortex-A9-based, 32nm HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) quad-core Samsung Exynos chip — no word on the clock speed or RAM, but we’re betting our money on the Exynos 4412 that goes up to 1.5GHz. Meizu claims this will save up to 20 percent of CPU power consumption compared to its dual-core counterpart. Also, the battery will be bumped up from 1,600mAh to 1,700mAh. And yes, in addition to the original white back cover, you’ll be able to swap it with one of the five optional colored covers pictured above.

On the software side you’ll get a Meizu-customized Ice Cream Sandwich system (aka Flyme OS), though it isn’t clear whether the company will stick to its old promise of simultaneously releasing a vanilla ROM. The rest of the new phone’s identical to the dual-core MX, especially the 4-inch 960 x 640 ASV display and the eight-megapixel BSI camera. While there’s still no microSD expansion, here’s some good news to make up for this flaw: the base model starts at 32GB and it’ll cost the same as the current 16GB MX! In other words, come June the unsubsidized MX Quad-core will go from ¥2,999 (US$480) in China and HK$3,099 (US$400) in Hong Kong; and then there’ll also be a 64GB version priced at ¥3,999 (US$635) and HK$4,099 (US$530), respectively. Meanwhile, starting today, the original MX is reduced to ¥2,399 (US$380) and HK$2,599 (US$335).

Now, with Meizu proudly claiming to have the world’s first smartphone to utilize the quad-core Exynos chip, we wonder where Samsung’s at with its own unicorn device?

Nokia’s announced preliminary information on its forthcoming Q1 results due on April 19th. It’s reportedly sold €4.2 billion worth of phones, €2.3 billion coming from the sale of 71 million dumbphones and €1.7 billion coming from smart devices. On the upside, sales of the Lumia handsets are still growing, selling two million of the series in the last three months alone. However, “competitive industry dynamics” and the cost of its painful transition into a modern smartphone player have meant the numbers aren’t too pleasing. The figures mean that the company will make a loss of around three percent below “break even,” but Stephen Elop remains bullish, saying that his team is “continuing to increase the clock speed of the company” and that “the change is tangible.”

With iOS now offering business-friendly security features, the shift away from BlackBerry is well underway, and the transition hasn’t exactly played out well for RIM. Now, the company even appears to be embracing the recently established competition, by launching BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. Beginning today, the new enterprise management tool will support not only BlackBerry devices and PlayBook tablets, but also Android and iOS tablets and smartphones, through the Universal Device Service. Business customers will be able to use Mobile Fusion to configure devices with email and calendar access, create groups, establish security policies, manage lost phones, detect rooting and jailbreaking, and even control roaming to help curb pricey fees. RIM is offering the service with a free 60-day trial, with full pricing info likely to roll out before that two-month e-taste dissolves. You’ll find more details at the BlackBerry for Business Blog by clicking through to the source link below.

It’s no secret that Samsung’s been teasing a major interest in premium audio since CES, blending digitally powered speakers with vacuum tube pre-amplifiers, and today the company’s spilling the details regarding US pricing on a trio of systems, all of which will be available in the Spring.

The star of the show is the $800 DA-870 Audio Dock, featuring the rear-mounted dual dock for Galaxy (charging only) and iOS devices. Clad in a polished wood case (available in black or cherry), the 2.1 stereo system pumps out up to 100 watts of power through its glass fiber speakers and tweeters. As an added touch, its JJ Electronics 12AU7 tubes (the same you could use for guitar amps) are sunken in from its top under glass, allowing for clear view of their glow. Best of all, aside from the requisite USB and 3.5mm inputs, the DA-870 works wirelessly with Samsung’s AllShare Play, AirPlay and Bluetooth 3.0 w/ aptX.

Moving past the HiFi category, Samsung’s also priced a duo of surround sound systems aimed at the home theater market. To start, there’s the $1,000 HT-E6730W Blu-ray 3D 7.1 home theater system and its $800 5.1 sibling, the HT-E6500W Blu-ray 3D — both of which feature the same tube pre-amp and similar wireless capabilities as the DA-870.

Notably, the E6730W features a tiltable top speaker on each of its stereo towers, allowing for a more personalized output depending on your room. Furthermore, if you happen to have a DA-870, too, you’ll be able to stream the audio via Bluetooth if you find yourself far away from your television. There’s no exact date on when you’ll be able snag any of them, but Samsung notes that the 5.1 system is currently shipping.

If US patent application 20120062371 is to be correctly understood, Nokia has at least thought about a topical haptic notification system. The first claim covers “An apparatus comprising: a material attachable to skin, the material capable of detecting a magnetic field and transferring a perceivable stimulus to the skin, wherein the perceivable stimulus relates to the magnetic field.” It then goes on to clarify its relation to telecommunications messages and communications indications. Based on ferromagnetic powder, the material would respond to magnetic fields and vibrate in response. Our guess is that this could be used as a notifier that could be “painted” onto the skin, and although there is mention of the word tattoo, we’re hoping that’s just part of the required legalese. But alas, until it’s granted, it’s just a subject of our curious imaginations. Those curious, can read more at the source.

SOURCE via Unwired View

Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich Android-running hardware has had access to HD resolution YouTube streams since launch (as seen above), but an update to the app that rolled out yesterday finally brings HD to some devices running Froyo or Gingerbread. The catch is that YouTube HD res won’t work on every Android 2.2 or 2.3 phone or tablet, as we’re told it is set dynamically based on screen size and resolution. Another quirk is that some devices still won’t install the updated version directly from the Market, like our Epic 4G Touch. Still, assuming you can snag the update — through official or unofficial means — if you have the pixels to spare you should see upgraded video quality from now on.

SOURCE via Android

This year ViewSonic decided that merely slapping Ice Cream Sandwich on its new ViewPhones isn’t good enough, so instead, the company’s just-announced 4s, 4e and 5e also come with an extra SIM slot. Starting from the left we have the ViewPhone 4s featuring an impressive 3.5-inch 960 x 640 Super Clear IPS LCD (which, should be very similar to Apple’s Retina Display from LG — rather ironic given the phone’s name), along with a five-megapixel camera, a VGA front-facing imager and a 1GHz chip.

Pictured in the middle is a similar-looking ViewPhone 4e but packing a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 LCD, a slower processor at 650MHz only, a three-megapixel camera and one extra touch button than its sibling; all of this made with budget in mind, obviously, though somehow ViewSonic’s very proud of its 10.3mm thickness.

If 3.5-inch displays aren’t your cup of tea then you’ll have to jump straight to the 5-inch ViewPhone 5e, but so far all we’ve been told is its 800 × 480 screen resolution.