While the news of Apple's
iPad having 3G wasn't exactly a surprise, the move to a new format for the SIM certainly was. The
SIM -- that tiny card that holds your contact info and account information that you find in your GSM handset -- is a 15 x 25mm plastic card whereas the new Micro SIM (also known as a 3FF SIM) is a diminutive 12 x 15mm, about 52% smaller. Needless to say, it's not physically compatible with your current phone. This card was developed by the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) to offer things like more storage space on-chip for provider applications, increased control and security functions -- over what, we don't know -- and the new smaller form factor allows it to fit in tiny devices. Frankly, we wouldn't call the iPad "tiny" and we have absolutely no clue what justification Apple had to switch to it other than a desire to be different -- this is the company that pioneered
Mini DisplayPort, after all -- but the long and the short of it is that you're going to have a hard time finding a carrier offering Micro SIMs in the short term since the GSMA doesn't appear to be actively spearheading a mass conversion. In fact, from AT&T's perspective, this is better than a software lock in some ways -- you're not going to be able to download a hack that gets you on another network, so you're totally at the mercy of your carrier at choice for providing a compatible card. Intentionally evil? Perhaps not -- all standards have to start somewhere -- but it's an awful pain in the ass.
Update: T-Mobile (in a partnership with Lok8u GPS devices) announced they were bringing the 3FF SIM to US shores back on January 6th of this year. See the source link for more info.
[Thanks, Brian]
Apple iPad's 'Micro SIM' explained originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Fujitsu's LifeBook UH900
started shipping to Americans just over a fortnight ago, and now one has landed into the capable hands of
Pocketables. Boasting a 2GHz Atom CPU and some of the most unsightly adapters we've ever seen, this flip-open handheld -- which just looks too lovely to be saddled with the "UMPC" moniker -- strangely
stirs something within our heart. It's one of those "I know I don't need it, but I just have to have it" things. Don't agree? Hit the source link, scroll all the way down, think about the upcoming weekend, and
then see how you feel. Oh, and feel free to check out those size comparisons if you need extra encouragement in the "ooh" and "aah" department.
Fujitsu's LifeBook UH900 gets unboxed, sized up against the competition originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Ever so gently, we're starting to
peel away the layers of mystery surrounding the A4 system-on-chip that powers Apple's fancy new slate device.
iFixit, helped by reverse engineering firm
Chipworks, have gone to the trouble of both dissecting
and X-raying the iPad's central processing hub in their quest to lift the veil of ignorance. Their findings confirmed that the A4 is built using a "package on package" method, meaning that the 256MB of Samsung-provided SDRAM is stacked immediately atop the CPU, which is noted as being reductive to both latency and energy use. With a single core processor inside, the
iFixit team concluded the iPad had to be running on
a Cortex A8 -- which is very much the
likeliest choice at this point -- but their assertion that it
couldn't be a
Cortex A9 MPCore inside is inaccurate, as those chips also come in single-core options. Either way, it'll be interesting to see how it stacks up against
Samsung's Hummingbird chip, which was designed by Intrinsity, the same company Apple is being rumored to have
recently acquired. Finally, the visual inspection of the iPad's mobo puts a model number to the already known
PowerVR GPU, narrowing it down to the SGX 535, while also naming and picturing a number of other exciting components, such as the always popular capacitive touchscreen controller. Hit the source link below for all the lurid images.
Apple's A4 system-on-chip gets decoupled from iPad, investigated with the help of an X-ray originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 05:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We thought the vast majority of our EOS 7D's image problems were over, fixed in
November's firmware, but just to nip any final nuances in the bud, Canon's released another update for the DSLR that fixes, among other things, "a phenomenon in which vertical magenta-colored banding appears in still images taken in movie-shooting mode." And here you thought your MGMT concert footage was just naturally that stylish. Download via the source link.
[Thanks, Daniel]
Canon EOS 7D firmware kills the magenta phenomenon originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Apr 2010 07:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This is what they call in the blog biz a "DNA Two-fer." Earlier today we heard about
self-assembling DNA circuits, and now what do we have? NYU chemistry professor Nadrian Seeman and his colleagues have developed what they call "DNA robot factories." Featuring a DNA track (like an assembly line), molecular forklifts for delivering parts, and a DNA "walker" that CNET describes as moving "like a car on an assembly line," the invention is currently being used to construct various types of gold nanoparticle chemical species (whatever
that means), although it could eventually be used in processors or for buiding on the cellular level. Hit up the source link to see the
Nature article for all the in-depth details of this nanoscale assembly line.
Continue reading DNA used to build nanoscale assembly line, Arto Lindsay unavailable for comment
DNA used to build nanoscale assembly line, Arto Lindsay unavailable for comment originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 05:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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