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Haven't updated your laptop's trackpad driver lately? Then you may well want to consider doing so, at least if your laptop is equipped with a Synaptics trackpad. As a user on the Hardware Zone forums discovered, the latest Synaptics driver seems to enable multitouch gestures on older laptops that didn't previously support them, including two-finger scrolling, and three-finger click. What's more, while the drivers themselves come from HP, they should work just fine on other laptops with a Synaptics trackpad. Hit up the link below to try it out for yourself. Synaptics driver enables multitouch gestures on older trackpads originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | Hardware Zone | Email this | Comments

In July of last year we noted how the MTA was exploring the possibility of deploying Wi-Fi on New York City area train lines. Last fall Cablevision, which has been busy building Wi-Fi services they offer free to their subscribers, offered to partner with the MTA to extend their existing service. Glenn Fleishman directs our attention to the fact that the MTA has released their request for proposal (RFP) for the project, which indicates the MTA wants a carrier partner who'll operate the network, bear all the expense of installation and operation, and manage support. Fleishman, for one, doesn't think it will work:I don't see how this could fly. No sensible firm would propose taking on all this expense without any assurance of revenue beyond the public Wi-Fi side of the system. Despite the large number of passengers, many of those most likely to pay already have 3G service on smartphones or through laptop cards. There's no operational services component, and that should be the baseline for any new rail RFP of the last five years.Of course with both AT&T, Verizon, Clearwire and T-Mobile all prepping to launch faster wireless broadband service in the NY market sometime in the next two to three years -- you start to wonder if it will really be necessary. Of course the MTA doesn't just want to just offer public wireless, they want the systems tied into their internal ticket and rail monitoring capabilities. But according to the RFP, the plan's "key business objective" for their wireless broadband ambitions is "to improve passenger satisfaction." Maybe lower ticket prices instead? read comment(s) <br clear=all>

If you've been following closely, there are really two sorts of input available to the PlayStation Move. The one that gets the most love and screen time is the camera-based, 3D meatspace tracking that the PlayStation Eye performs in conjunction with the fancy colored ball at the end of the PlayStation Move wand, but most of the actual gameplay we've seen is in truth much more similar to the Wii's MotionPlus than Sony might want to let on. The MotionPlus and PS Move have very similar configurations of gyroscopes and accelerometers, and actually use the same software from AiLive (co-creators of MotionPlus) for developing the gesture recognition that goes into games. We actually got to see the LiveMove 2 development environment in action, and it's pretty impressive: basically you tell a computer what gesture you want to perform (like "fist pump," for instance) and then perform a bunch of examples of that movement. LiveMove then figures out the range of allowable movement, and in playback mode shows you whether you're hitting the mark. AiLive showed us gestures as complicated as a Graffiti (of Palm OS yore) handwriting recognition in the air, built with just a few example movements from people back at their offices. So, this is great news for developers dealing with the significant complication of all these sensors, but at the same time we can't help but be a little disappointed. LiveMove 2 doesn't even use the PlayStation Eye, and as we mentioned in our hands-on impressions of PlayStation Move, we could really sense that a lot of our in-game actions were built from predefined gestures, not us interacting with the 3D environment in any "real" or physics-based way. It's great tech either way, but hopefully that's something that can be improved upon by launch or soon after. Check out a demo of LiveMove in action after the break.Continue reading AiLive shows off its LiveMove 2 software for building MotionPlus and PlayStation Move gestures AiLive shows off its LiveMove 2 software for building MotionPlus and PlayStation Move gestures originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | | Email this | Comments

While we've seen no shortage of smartphone-powered robots in the past, the Nokia camp has been sadly under-represented. But, there's a new one coming to balance things out, a machine called Niko that has Lego Mindstorm NXT 2.0 components for a body and an N900 for a brain. The bot has been under construction for a few weeks but it has just made its YouTube debut with the short video posted after the break, showing it roving around and taking a photo whenever it bumps into something. When all systems are go and the machine is set free Niko will be posting messages and pictures to Twitter describing its every move in thrilling detail. We can't wait for it to start picking fights with @CourtneyLoveUK.Continue reading Niko, the N900-powered Lego robot, looks poised to take over Twitter (video) Niko, the N900-powered Lego robot, looks poised to take over Twitter (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink Make | Push N900 Blog | Email this | Comments

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Internet addiction, as you know, is a growing worldwide concern. Recently, the UK opened its first rehab clinic for Internet Addiction (the provocatively named Broadway Lounge), but that was only the beginning. Capio Nightingale Hospital in London has announced its own plan to get gets out of the World of Warcraft and into the real world through an intensive in-patient, day care, or group therapy environment. The program is aimed at 15 to 17-year-olds, although kids as young as 12 could participate. A hospital spokesman said that the service hopes to "address the underlying causes of this addiction to transform screenagers back into teenagers." And if you thought we were running this because we wanted to use the word "screenagers," you might be on to something. New UK Internet Addiction clinic offers in-patient therapy to 'screenagers' originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | Yahoo | Email this | Comments

Just as Comcast leapfrogged DirecTV's 3D plans, its claim to the first live HD 3D event has been stolen away by Cablevision, which will broadcast a Rangers/Islanders NHL matchup Wednesday, shown both in a special viewing party in the Theater at Madison Square Garden and on iO TV channel 1300 (if you already have a 3DTV but not Cablevision then keep an eye on your channel guide as, like the Masters broadcast, it may be shared with other networks.) While this is probably just the beginning of another FCC battle over who it will have to share the broadcasts with, MSG is just focusing on keeping a trend going since it was one of the first to jump on HDTV production of NBA and NHL games way back in 1998 and plans to keep 3D broadcasts coming over the next year with more games and concerts. Production is being handled by 3ality Digital, previously responsible for the BCS game that turned some of our preconceived notions about 3D with its BCS National Championship broadcast a little over a year ago, which plans to use 5 cameras from a lower angle than usual to resemble the perspective of the actual players -- minus concussion-inducing blindside hits to the head. Anyone willing to host a viewing party? We're totally down to bring snacks... if you'll cover our 3D glasses. [Thanks, William & Vinny]Cablevision bumps Comcast to the back, 3D sports at home starts next week originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | MSG | Email this | Comments

Amsterdam not only has one of the busiest global Internet exchanges, but consumers also see some fantastic speeds in a city that increasingly treats broadband like an open access utility. At the heart of that effort is CityNet, a joint partnership between the city and two private investors. CityNet is run by a guy named Herman Wagter (this older interview is a must read). We've talked a lot about Wagter and CityNet over the last few years, including exploring how they've been working on to Amsterdam homes (and houseboats). Wagter has now written a really great piece for Ars Technica on the finer details of delivering FTTH service in a densely-populated European city where all fiber must be buried. read comment(s) <br clear=all>

We almost hate to throw the KIRF moniker on a product we wouldn't mind owning, but this e-reader that popped up at the EREXPO in Shenzhen certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to the Spring Design Alex e-reader -- and the button layout on the right is a dead ringer for the Kindle. It's called the K9, the latest reader from Teclast, and it follows a growing trend of Android-powered devices with a color LCD on the bottom and an E-Ink screen on top. The screens measure 3.6- and 6-inches respectively and, while we don't know anything else about it at this point, we wouldn't be surprised it inherits its father's tardiness.Keepin' it real fake: Teclast's dual-screened K9 e-reader looks like Alex and Kindle made a baby originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink Cloned In China | Shanzhaiben.com | Email this | Comments

An FCC statement (pdf) indicates that the agency is fielding public comments on Comcast's planned merger with NBC Universal. The nation's largest TV and broadband provider (and third largest phone company) is hoping to create a $28.2 billion joint venture with GE, which would give Comcast a a 51 percent share in NBC Universal. Not too surprisingly, Comcast lawyers and lobbyists continue to argue that the merger with NBC would be a good thing for consumers, and that somehow the consolidation would mean more competition and diversity in the marketplace:The Applicants assert that the proposed transaction would serve the public interest and promote the Commission s policy goals of diversity, localism, and competition. They argue that the proposed transaction would be in compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, including the Commission s media ownership rules and channel occupancy limits. They deny the potential for public interest harms and contend that the antitrust laws and the Commission s current regulations, including the program access, program carriage, and retransmission consent rules, would serve as adequate safeguards against any anti-competitive behavior by the partiesIf you really love massive media consolidation -- or think the deal could spell problems for consumers -- you have until May third to make your voice heard at the FCC. You can file your thoughts electronically here, referencing MB Docket No. 10-56. read comment(s) <br clear=all>

We actually haven't seen any official shots of the Office apps for Windows Phone 7 Series, but now that Microsoft's emulator has been hacked and unlocked, we've got a glimpse of what creating a Word doc in OneNote looks like -- and while there's a high probability that this a super-early version of the app, it's still revealing in how drastically minimal it is. Microsoft says most people just want to make minor edits and leave comments to Office docs while on the go, not make large edits with copy and paste, so we'd expect to see track changes in the final version, but something tells us the main interface isn't going to look tremendously different than this. One more shot and the video after the break.Continue reading OneNote and Word for Windows Phone 7 Series revealed OneNote and Word for Windows Phone 7 Series revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | TechAU | Email this | Comments

Those HDTV manufacturers did tell us that 3D was going to be everywhere this year, didn't they? Keeping up with the times, scientists investigating potential methods for rendering physical objects invisible to the human eye have now moved to the full three-dimensional realm. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology has developed a photonic metamaterial that can make things disappear when viewed from all angles, advancing from previous light refraction methods that only worked in 2D. It sounds similar to what Berkeley researchers developed not too long ago, and just like Berkeley's findings, this is a method that's still at a very early stage of development and can only cover one micrometer-tall bumps. Theoretically unlimited, the so-called carpet cloak could eventually be expanded to "hide a house," but then who's to say we'll even be living in houses by that time?3D invisibility cloak fashioned out of metamaterials originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | BBC | Email this | Comments

The FCC wants you to help it kill bogus ISPs, and its primary weapon is its Consumer Broadband Test, released to the world last week. 150,000 people have already done their part, giving a glimpse at some early statistics describing just what the state of American downloadin' looks like. Average download from the Ookla test is a respectable 11.5Mbps and upload is 2.09Mbps, but if you look at the spread of those results a full half of test takers have a rather more pedestrian 4Mbps maximum download. An early map is included below showing results by state but, as Ars Technica points out, many of the "surprise" dark green entries (like Georgia) have only had a few-thousand respondents thus-far, and you can figure most are in-the-know enthusiasts paying extra to get their digital goods more quickly. It still remains to be seen exactly what the FCC will do with all these stats, because it doesn't seem to be releasing data tying speeds to ISP just yet. Hopefully that's coming.150,000 take part in FCC's broadband census, do their part for the greater good originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | Ars Technica | Email this | Comments

Are these grabs from RIM's refreshed BlackBerry OS 6.0 or just fanart from some sleepy design school student meant to trick the tech press? We don't know, but BBLeaks claims that they come "highly regarded as real from one of our best connects." But before getting too worked up, it's worth noting the bizarre similarities between these grabs (San Francisco, the weather widget colors, Haiti tweet, and font) and the slide pulled from that "Super Apps" developer webinar back in February -- images that RIM called nothing more than mockups of nothing important at the time. Still with a consumer-focused, BlackBerry slider rumored to be making its first appearance next month at RIM's own WES show, well, who knows. Really, does anybody know? Webinar image after the break for your clinical comparison.Continue reading BlackBerry OS 6.0 leaked? BlackBerry OS 6.0 leaked? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink CrackBerry | BBLeaks | Email this | Comments

While Time Warner Cable dropped faster "Wideband" 50 Mbps speeds this week in parts of New York State like Buffalo and Syracuse, cities like Rochester, New York and Binghamton, New York were won't be seeing upgrades anytime soon. Why? Competition, or more accurately -- a lack thereof. While Verizon has deployed FiOS in portions of Buffalo and Syracuse, in cities like Binghamton Verizon only offers last-generation DSL. Rochester, NY too is served by Frontier Communications, who also is still using last-generation DSL. Rochester residents are annoyed:That s the nice way of saying Rochester isn t getting the speed increases because there is no competitive reason to provide it. With Rochester left off the upgrade list, and no real incentive to run to Frontier (which can t beat Road Runner s existing speeds), this community falls behind the rest of the state in broadband speed.Time Warner Cable has always stated that these upgrades would be "surgical" which is code for Time Warner Cable markets that see real competition. By the cable companies sluggish deployment, you can get a pretty clear idea of what kind of competition they're dealing with in most of their markets. There's a lot of cities like Binghamton (this author's hometown) that are going to be passed over initially in the first wave of next-generation upgrades. The question is: how long will they have to wait before they get faster speeds? With no competition to speak of, the answer could be a very long time. <br clear=all>

Looks like the kids at T-Mobile USA are well aware that their company's future will depend on offering both compelling handsets and a competitive network for them to ride on. Reuters reports that the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary has been exploring all its options with regard to the provision of 4G services, including potential joint ventures with cable companies and even spectrum sharing with AT&T, though the likeliest candidate for the moment remains Clearwire's WiMAX infrastructure. Asked about a potential merger with Sprint, who controls more than 50 percent of Clearwire, T-Mobile's CEO Robert Dotson declined the idea, explaining that "what you never want to do is take one company that is going through challenges and take another company going through challenges." Reports of ongoing discussions between Clearwire and T-Mo have been around since last September, and the latest from Dotson suggests that his company is keen to get a resolution either way as soon as possible.T-Mobile and Clearwire mulling 4G partnership originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink mocoNews | Reuters | Email this | Comments

Verizon's John Czwartacki this week asked via Twitter what the public's biggest question was surrounding Verizon's upcoming Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless broadband launch this year. Given we know the service will launch in 25-30 markets this year, offering speeds of 5-12 Mbps (probably more around 3-8 Mbps) -- our biggest question remains: what's the price tag, and what kind of caps are we looking at? Judging from the lack of response to that question, Verizon hasn't decided yet. That's what Light Reading concludes as well:AT&T and Verizon Wireless both say they are undecided on how they will charge for Long Term Evolution (LTE) data plans when they are launched over the course of this year and next. . . It s worth thinking about something that is usage-based, but nothing has been decided yet," said Sawanobori. "That's still being looked at," Rinne told the listening audience of press and analysts. Verizon CTO Melone has been more vocal on this issue recently, however, telling The Wall Street Journal: "As much data as you can consume is the big issue that has to change."Of course the pricing models the carriers want to implement involve high ETFs, mandatory data plans, low caps, high overages, and a structure that pretends to offer value, but quietly pushes consumers toward the higher price points whether they use a lot or a little data. While these models are proposed under the auspices of fairness, they're really about charging everybody more money for data -- to counter a future where SMS and voice minutes are supplanted by open networks, mobile VoIP, and smartphone IM clients. In contrast, consumers dealing with an economic recession and layoffs (maybe even from AT&T and Verizon) want data plans that offer them real value (not the illusion of value), and they don't want use of next-generation networks constrained by last-generation caps and pricing. AT&T and Verizon will have to meet consumers somewhere halfway. read comment(s) <br clear=all>

Virgin Media UK Demo 200Mbps Cable Broadband ispreview.co.uk Google, Intel, Sony to join forces on 'Google TV' timesonline.co.uk Skype's global WiFi service a big price gouge for travellers? pcauthority.com.au Google To Shut Down China Unit in April? businessweek.com Charter Picks FourthWall EBIF Platform to Deliver Interactive Programming, Advertising; Eyes 50% Of Digital Footprint By End Of 2010 multichannel.com 10 Reason Why the Apple Lawsuit with HTC Could Set Back the Mobile Industry eweek.com Analysis Of Google And Viacom's Mud-Slinging Arguments Over YouTube techdirt.com Global sales of built-in 3G modules to exceed plug-type data cards in three years, say sources digitimes.com Energizer site still plagued by data-stealing trojan theregister.co.uk read comment(s) <br clear=all>

Ok, that was fast. We just told you about the audio recording issue with the version 2.0.3 EOS 5D Mark II firmware yesterday and already we have a 2.0.4 release in Japan. Expect this fix of a fix for a fix to go global on the quick and give you that 29.97 FPS 23.976 FPS 1080p recording you so specifically crave.Canon EOS 5D Mark II 2.0.4 firmware said to fix audio, reputation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | Impress | Email this | Comments

You know who makes the E-Ink displays on the Kindle? PVI. The Taiwanese company is also the EPD provider for several other tier-1 eReader device makers including Sony. So take a good look at that color E-Ink prototype display currently sitting in a PVI booth at a Shenzhen tradeshow 'cause that's what you'll see packed in color eReaders near the end of the year and into 2011. PVI is showing off both 6- and 9.7-inch color prototypes set to hit the manufacturing lines in Q4 (and sampling now), just right for the Kindle 2 and Kindle DX should Amazon choose to keep things simple and just swap out the display (and a minimum of componentry) within its existing device lineup. It's worth noting that the extra layer of color filtering glass will impact battery life a bit, but certainly not enough to lose its edge on LCDs. And while PVI was demonstrating a color animation running on its new displays, they can't do video worth a damn due to the slow frame refresh. And don't expect to see the color EPDs sporting a contrast or color vibrancy anywhere close to what you'll get from a traditional LCD either. Regardless, people seem smitten by the USA Today's use of color so we're sure these color E-Ink displays will find their niche as well.PVI's color E-Ink displays are a perfect match for Kindles originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink E-Ink-Info | PCWorld | Email this | Comments

We're only a week away from their grand unveiling, but already we've got word of the specs for NVIDIA's high end GTX 480 and GTX 470 cards. Priced at $499, the 480 will offer 480 shader processors, a 384-bit interface to 1.5GB of onboard GDDR5 RAM, and clock speeds of 700MHz, 1,401MHz, and 1,848MHz for the core, shaders and memory, respectively. The 470 makes do with 446 SPs, slower clocks, and a 320-bit memory interface, but it's also priced at a more sensible $349. The TDPs of these cards are pretty spectacular too, with 225W for the junior model and 295W for the full-fat card. Sourced by VR Zone, these numbers are still unofficial, but they do look to mesh well with what we already know of the hardware, including a purported 5-10 percent benchmarking advantage for the GTX 480 over ATI's HD 5870. Whether the price and power premium is worth it will be up to you and the inevitable slew of reviews to decide. [Thanks, Sean]NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 and 470 specs and pricing emerge originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | VR Zone | Email this | Comments

Plotting their latest spread of watches this spring, Casio executives decided it was time to "go green." Some poor schmuck in R&D took them at their word. Thankfully for mother nature, the Casio Pathfinder PRG110C-3 is more than meets the eye; the watch -- suited for argonauts needing an altimeter, barometer, thermometer and digital compass -- also has a miniature solar cell built into its face to automatically recharge the battery. Though Casio's claim that this last will cut down on the three billion batteries Americans trash each year seems a little reaching -- watch batteries last a lot longer than a AA -- the timepiece does help the planet some merely by being packaged in recyclables. The $250 device will be available exclusively from Amazon, and yeah, the color you see here is the color you'll get.Casio's solar-powered Pathfinder watch plays the green card twice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink | Casio, Casio Tough Solar | Email this | Comments

We don't know how seriously you take yourself as a photographer. But painting a face on your lens cap and dangling a hand-made, &yen;2,914 (about $32) Osu! Kameraman puppet from your camera's tripod mount isn't going to earn you much respect. Especially when your telephoto lens is dialed up to maximum, perv. Perfect though, if you're only hoping to capture faces twisted into a scowl. Entire collection on display after the break.Continue reading Pentax Kameraman puppets are perfect for shooting WTF faces Pentax Kameraman puppets are perfect for shooting WTF faces originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink Impress | Osu!, Pentax | Email this | Comments

When chipmaker Marvell told us its technology would power $99 smartphones, we took the company at its word. We weren't expecting a sub-$100, 10-inch tablet PC, however -- and we definitely weren't expecting Marvell itself to build it. Marketed at students looking to lighten their textbook load, the Marvell Moby will be an "always-on, high performance multimedia tablet" capable of full Flash support and 1080p HD playback -- thanks to those nifty Armada 600 series processors -- and supporting WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and both Android and Windows Mobile platforms for maximum flexibility. No release date has yet been announced; like the OLPC, Marvell will introduce the Moby in pilot programs at participating at-risk schools. While it's far too early to say if the Moby will be the universal educational e-reader Marvell hopes (that depends on software), it's certainly an intriguing device for the price, and we'll admit we're a touch jealous of those kids who'll first get to try one.Marvell pitches $99 Moby Tablet as textbook alternative originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink ARMdevices.net | Marvell, Technologizer | Email this | Comments

Apple patent applications are usually pretty dry, but it looks like a new one turned up by Patently Apple has a bit more user-focused meat to it -- it describes a location-based social networking app called "iGroups," which lets groups of people share data amongst themselves using a service like MobileMe. Once group members are identified and linked up, they can securely share information and users carrying devices without GPS-abilities will be able to triangulate their position using the positions of other GPS-enabled devices in the group. Of course, the actual patent itself is focused on the cryptographic key system that protects all the data, and we're pretty sure the "iGroups" name is just a placeholder for now -- we'd guess the developer of the iGroups app currently in the App Store hopes so too -- so how this winds up in a shipping product is totally up in the air, but our interest in what iPhone OS 4.0 may hold has certainly been piqued once again.Apple patent reveals iGroups location-based social networking for iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. <h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6>Permalink Mashable | Patently Apple | Email this | Comments