Not all of us want to be locked into a long term contract with a wireless carrier. Especially when it comes to data-only devices that might not get used on a regular basis. For those that want to grab a 4G dongle or a mobile hotspot and go, without the need sign their life over, T-Mobile is launching four new pre-paid data options. The 4G passes start at $15 for 300MB over the course of a week, all the way up to 5GB for $50 over the course of a month. The plans are available on the Sonic 4G and plain ol' T-Mobile 4G mobile hotspots as well as the Rocket 3.0 laptop stick, but tablet users can also hop on the bandwagon. The Galaxy Tab 10.1, 7,0 Plus and SpringBoard are all eligible for the No Annual Contract mobile broadband passes. You can start topping off your megabytes instead of your minutes on May 20th. For more details check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading T-Mobile launches new contract-free, data-only plans

T-Mobile launches new contract-free, data-only plans originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 12:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The end of last week's Switched On left doubt for the future of dedicated devices that tread on the turf of smartphones. After all, funding is key to every major new product initiative and, despite the vast fortunes of many Silicon Valley engineers that have been accumulated via IPOs and acquisitions, few wish to take on the risk of fronting a new consumer device themselves.(In 2007, the handheld FlipStart PC was hatched from FlipStart Labs, funded by Vulcan Ventures, the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.)

Most venture capitalists abhor the device business; it is a rare device that makes it to the spotlight of startup debutante balls such as DEMO, TechCrunch Disrupt, or Launch. Even most of the 94 companies at CES' Eureka Park were not developing end-user devices Where, then, can a device entrepreneur go for funding and pick up some publicity in the process?

Continue reading Switched On: Big kicks, not all for starters

Switched On: Big kicks, not all for starters originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arcade fan (and genius) Le Chuck got up one morning and thought "Why not build a perfect replica of Atari's Star Wars Arcade, at 1:6 scale?" The result is this amazing 12-inch cabinet with a fully working Atari-yoke, handmade from aluminum and a pair of potentiometers. Tucked inside the box is a modded Caanoo running MAME4all, which has been tweaked to boot straight into the game when activated. The whole project took him over 80 hours to put together, but we think it was time very well spent. If you want to see the thing in action (and sing along to the 8-bit version of the theme) then head on past the break.

Continue reading Star Wars Arcade gets fan-made mini-me, weeps tears of joy (video)

Star Wars Arcade gets fan-made mini-me, weeps tears of joy (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Larry Page's tenure as Googler-in-chief has heralded the death of many ambitious experiments, but even he refuses to kill the self-driving car. His project head, Anthony Levandowski, has now asked the car makers of Detroit to sign up with Mountain View for hardware testing, saying that if driverless cars are not ready by the next decade, then it's "shame on us as engineers." There's still some way to go before the tech is road-worthy, but Google is already working with insurers to work out how your car is going to handle making that call to Geico when things go wrong.

Continue reading Google asks car makers 'Ullo John, wanna self-driving motor?'

Google asks car makers 'Ullo John, wanna self-driving motor?' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yep, we went way out for April's Engadget Show, taking our film crew to Asia this time out, to check out the markets of Taipei, Hong Kong and Shenzhen with our very own Richard Lai. We also scored interviews with Huawei's Chief of Design, Hagen Fendler and Michelle Hsiao of the ASUS Design Center. We'll be checking out the month's latest and greatest gadgets, including the HTC One X, S and V, Nokia Lumia 900 and the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, as well as a big ole pile of KIRFs -- some more convincing than others. We've also got a couple of performances by Brooklyn indie rockers Suckers and a whole bunch more.

Gallery: The Engadget Show 32: ASUS, Huawei and a trip to China's gadget markets

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Guests: Hagen Fendler (Huawei), Michelle Hsiao (ASUS), Richard Lai, Guy Streit
Producer: Guy Streit
Director: Michelle Stahl
Executive Producers: Brian Heater, Joshua Fruhlinger and Michael Rubens
Music by: Suckers

Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 032 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 032 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show - 032 (Small)

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The Engadget Show 32: ASUS, Huawei and a trip to Asia's gadget markets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of reaching for the stylus, then your pen, oh, and then the stylus again? Wacom saw that, and updated the Bamboo Stylus with the new "Duo." Half pen, half stylus, and all yours for £34 (about $50) next month.

Continue reading Wacom Bamboo Stylus Duo lets you draw something on tablets and paper

Wacom Bamboo Stylus Duo lets you draw something on tablets and paper originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Long-running hacker magazine 2600 has been digging into its archives quite a bit as of late (it began releasing videos of the early HOPE conferences in December), and it's now gone back right to the beginning for its latest offering. It's just released 2600: The Hacker Digest - Volume 1, a DRM-free ebook that collects its first year of newsletters -- reformatted in book form for easier reading, but with every last detail intact (including typos). That's available in both the Kindle and Nook stores, as well as through 2600's own site in plain old PDF form, each of which set you back just under $4. What's more, while there's no firm word on any additional volumes just yet, 2600 says it'll keep them coming if there's enough support for the first one.

2600 Volume 1 released as a DRM-free ebook: phreak like it's 1984 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's been less than a year since our first opportunity to get up close and personal with BMW's i8 plug-in electric car, and now the German automaker is back to tease a whole new beast. The Concept Spyder made a static appearance over the weekend, but today the sportier i8 has returned to the spotlight, with video footage in tow. BimmerPost managed to share some clips via YouTube, including a straight-cut-gear-fueled drive around a parking lot and across a lamp-lit bridge, somewhere in the Eastern U.S., believe it or not (take note of the I-95 sign in the first few seconds). You can also gawk at some side-to-side pans of the Spyder's exterior, with a few HD interior close-ups to boot. And where can you find said stimulating simulations? Buckle up and click past the break.

Continue reading BMW i8 Concept Spyder takes to the road, sounds almost as gorgeous as it looks (video)

BMW i8 Concept Spyder takes to the road, sounds almost as gorgeous as it looks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that all of the Harry Potter movies have been released, Warner Bros. has seen fit to slide them together in one truly epic set. Harry Potter Wizard's Collection spans 31 discs including the theatrical version of each movie, extended cuts of the first two flicks, 3D versions of the last two, Ultraviolet digital copies and several bonus discs with ten hours of new to disc bonus content and 5 hours of never before seen extras. Of course, we should also mention the incredibly detailed box it all comes in, seen in the CG video above. Of course, you can't always have everything, and some fans are upset about what this collection doesn't include -- extended versions of the last six movies. Those still interested can preorder the $499 MSRP set (currently selling for $349 on Amazon) for delivery September 7th, and get an early preview of one of the special features embedded after the break.

Continue reading Harry Potter Wizard's Collection brings home all eight movies on a ridiculous 31 discs (video)

Harry Potter Wizard's Collection brings home all eight movies on a ridiculous 31 discs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PayPal has been helping us pay for those impulse purchases for a long time, but now its forthcoming Digital Wallet could see it popping up on our bank statements a whole lot more. Speaking with eBay Ink, PayPal's Sam Shrauger gave a quick demo of some of the new features. As well as the regular payment handling, you'll be able to register gift vouchers, coupons, loyalty points and store credit cards all under one account. This sounds tidy, but more interesting is the ability to change how you pay for something (say, from credit to debit card) up to seven days after the fact. If you want to keep those big purchases on the Amex, that's no problem either, with configurable rules letting you assign different cards to different spending situations, including setting your own custom payment plans. It's not all about buying either, with savings also getting the digital treatment, that's if you haven't doled it all out on gadget rarities. The service is expected to land in May, in the meantime see the new features via the videos after the break.

Continue reading PayPal's Digital Wallet lets you decide how you empty yours (video)

PayPal's Digital Wallet lets you decide how you empty yours (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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