Native Instruments' Maschine hardware/software bundle has become a staple in the beat-production market since its debut two years ago. Now at version 1.7, its performative and production capacities have grown to the point where dance pioneers like Underworld rely on it as a standard instrument much the way an electric guitar might be used by a rock band. Maschine Mikro is the first major hardware shift for the production platform: the newly-downsized controller easily fits into a backpack and comes in at $200 less than its bigger brother. What compromises come with the smaller footprint, and what will the price tag mean for people just getting starting in the groove production game? Read on, Lil' Dre, for our macro view of the Mikro.
Maschine Mikro

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Are you someone who has yet to jump on the Twitter bandwagon because it's just too darn complicated to use? Well, the time to spread your tweeting wings has come, because the service has just done a redesign of its web portal and mobile apps around four new tabs -- "Home", "Connect", "Discover" and "Me" -- that make for a less complicated and more streamlined experience (sound familiar?). Twitter's new threads will be rolling out universally over the next few weeks, though the Android and iPhone apps have already been refreshed. All you 140-character mavens can head on past the break for a video of the new look or hit the source links to learn more. For those of you in need of an even simpler Twitter interface, well, we hear there's a guy with a rotary phone who can deliver just what you're looking for.

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It's no secret that we were downright smitten when HTC dropped 2010's proverbial bombshell: the EVO 4G. A knockout device that served not only as WiMAX's ambassador, but also catapulted us into expansive "superphone" territory with what was then a gargantuan 4.3-inch screen. Since then, however, subsequent EVOs haven't exactly been what we'd call up to snuff. The EVO 3D, while "good," made gimmicky trade-offs that kept it from being the home-run we'd hoped for. And others, like Samsung, who were once an Android wallflower have seriously stepped up their game -- so much so, even Google's repeatedly taken notice.

Where does that leave us with this year's EVO Design 4G? With middling single-core specs and a mid-range $100 on-contract price, things aren't exactly looking up for a device tasked with wielding a torch branded with the EVO's name. Does it pass muster as a device worthy of its ancestry? Or will the GSM and qHD add-ons keep it from diluting its predecessors good name? Well, frankly, there's only one way to find out, and that's to join us as we explore its intricacies past the break.

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There's not a lot of detail here, but if you've been eyeing up a new Intuos4 wireless graphics tablet then it might be worth bearing this recent FCC application in mind. Behind all the confidentiality agreements and abstract descriptions that are standard fare for unannounced products these days, the official paperwork lists a highly suggestive model number: PTK-450. The smallest Intuos4 currently available is the PTK-440 and it's been around for a couple of years already, so perhaps we're due a refresh.

Update: Now the two bigger tablets have made an appearance: the PTK-650 and the PTK-850, which would hypothetically complete this updated Intuos4 range.

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We knew that Panasonic's mobile division was summoning its strength for a return to the Old World, and finally we have some detail: it's aiming to bring an "ultra-slim D-shaped" Android smartphone with a slim bezel, 4.3-inch qHD OLED screen, NFC and some rugged credentials to Europe in March next year. The manufacturer hopes to use Europe as a stepping stone to the US, China and the rest of Asia, aiming to broaden its range of Android devices and sell at a total of nine million of them outside of Japan by the end of March 2016. Read on for the full PR.
Show full PR textPanasonic to Expand Smartphone Business to European Market

Panasonic will expand its mobile phone business into the global market, targeting at nine million units of overseas sales in fiscal year 2016.

Tokyo, Japan - Panasonic announced today that it will expand its smartphone business to the European market in March 2012. At the same time, it announced its aim to bring its overseas smartphone sales to nine million units in fiscal year 2016, ending March 31, 2016, using Europe as a stepping stone to the global market.

With the mobile phone market rapidly shifting to smartphone usage worldwide and a steady growth expected particularly overseas, Panasonic aims to tap into this growth with its first global model smartphone for the European market in March 2012.

The main characteristics of the global model are:
1. An ultra-slim D-shaped design for easy portability
2. Slim bezel with high viewing quality Quarter HD (QHD) 4.3-inch large organic light emitting diode (OLED) screen
3. Waterproof and dustproof for ease of handling

Using this as a reference model, Panasonic will expand its lineup, aiming at sales of 1.5 million smartphones in Europe next fiscal year. Furthermore, in fiscal year 2016, Panasonic targets global sales of 15 million units, including nine million in Europe, Asia, China, and the United States and six million in Japan (of which five million are smartphones).

The Panasonic Group created the Systems & Communications Company (SNC) in April this year in advance of its reorganization scheduled for January 2012 in order to handle products and services related to system, network and mobile communications. Within this company, Panasonic will maximize its internal resources, including making use of an existing factory in Malaysia. Currently, phones for the Japanese market are manufactured in this factory but now the same factory is also scheduled to manufacture the first global model as announced.

Panasonic will continue to expand its product lineup and increase sales in a speedy process by thoroughly utilizing the Group's technological assets and development resources as well as its production and sales sites around the world, thereby strengthening development, production, and sales structure and product competitiveness.

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Seagate has started shipping the new Momentus XT solid state hybrid hard drive. Based on Serial ATA 6Gb/second interface, the updated version of the drive adopts Seagate’s Adaptive Memory and FAST Factor technologies. The Adaptive Memory technology is a self-learning algorithm that delivers SSD-like response from your most frequently used applications and files, while the FAST Factor technology blends the strengths of SSDs and hard disk drives for quicker boot up and faster access to applications. What’s more, this hybrid HDD also provides an 8GB of Single Level Cell NAND flash. If you are interested, you can buy the for $245.

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Motorola will launch the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition in the UK market next week. Both tablets feature the Google Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS, a 1.2GHz dual core processor, a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera, a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera, an LED flash, a 1GB of RAM and a 16GB of storage. The Motorola Xoom 2 comes jam packed with a 10.1-inch HD display with Gorilla Glass, while the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition has a smaller 8.2-inch HD display with Gorilla Glass. The Xoom 2 will be available on December 2nd, 2011, while the Xoom 2 Media Edition will be released on December 5th, 2011. No word on pricing at this time.

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ASUS’ latest workstation motherboard ‘P9X79 WS’ has finally been shipped in Europe. This high-end motherboard is sold for 330 Euro (about $442). Based on Intel X79 chipset, the P9X79 WS supports for Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge-E (LGA 2011) processors, and features eight DDR3-2400 memory slots and six PCI-Express x16 slots for SLI or CrossFireX setup. In terms of connectivity ports, it offers four SATA 6.0 Gbps, four SATA 3.0 Gbps, four USB 3.0, thirteen USB 2.0, 7.1 channel audio, FireWire and dual Gigabit Ethernet.

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A-Data has unveiled a new line of USB 3.0 flash drives to its range called the C103. Coming in both 8GB and 16GB sizes, these entry-level USB flash drives feature a slide-out USB 3.0 connector and promise to provide read/write speeds of up to 50/5 MB/s (8GB Model) and 90/10 MB/s (16GB Model), respectively. The C103 series will go on sale soon, however, there’s no word on pricing yet.

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Chinavasion offers you their latest touchscreen LCD monitor, the CVJU-E38-2GEN. Designed specifically for home/office and business users, this 15-inch monitor provides 1024 x 768 native resolution and 300 cd/m2 brightness, and features both USB and VGA connectors. The CVJU-E38-2GEN will set you back just $186.38 and comes bundled with a stylus pen.

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The UK government plans "unprecedented co-operation" with businesses to improve cybersecurity Continue reading the main storyRelated Stories'Promising step' to cybersecurityUK cyber security strategy Google to abandon older browsers An increasingly popular web language will be the next big target for cybercriminals, according to a security firm.
HTML 5 is being developed to improve the look of websites, remove the need for plug-ins such as Java and Flash, and bring the storage capacity of the cloud to the browser.
It is still in development but some applications already support it.
Because it is new, it is attractive to cybercriminals, said Sophos.
Super cookies
"This is potentially going to be quite painful," said James Lyne, director of technology strategy at the security firm.
"It is more than a web language. Much more data can be stored in the browser which means that criminals can now attack the browser to steal data."
Traditionally browsers have stored relatively small amounts of "sticky" data, limited mainly to cookies which track the websites that people have visited.
The fact that HTML 5 allows more data to be stored in the browser means firms and cybercriminals could create super-cookies to track people's web behaviour.
Some malware techniques have faded out of fashion because patches have been found for them.
HTML 5 makes some ripe for renewed exploitation, thinks Mr Lyne.
Chief among them is clickjacking, a relatively simple malware technique used to persuades users to click on a link often via a pop-up box.
With previous web standards, developers could create code which questioned where click instructions came from in order to prevent clickjacking.
Tracking people
HTML 5 hides a lot of this detail from software writers making it harder to distinguish between good and bad sites.
"By building this wall it is hampering developers' ability to write secure code," said Mr Lyne.
The other major security flaw for HTML 5, identified by Sophos, is the fact that it is built to integrate with mobile features such as GPS.
It means that a mobile phone browser will be able to identify a person's location, as long as it is given permission, straight out of the box.
But, said Mr Lyne, the permissions for who had access to this were currently "poorly defined".
"Some sites, such as Google Maps, you might be happy to know where you are while others you wouldn't want to know your location."
Adobe Flash
HTML 5 is already being widely adopted, particularly in the mobile world.
Software developer Adobe Systems recently announced it was ending development of its Flash Player plug-in for mobile devices.
Flash has traditionally been used to run movies, games and other applications but Adobe said it now believes that HTML 5 technology offered the "best solution" because it was "universally supported".
Google is also a fan, and uses it in its Gmail service to allow users to drag and drop files into messages. This functionality is currently only supported by the latest Chrome and Firefox browsers.
While the web standard brings new security issues, it will also solve others, thinks Mr Lyne.
"It eliminates the need for Flash and other external products that have been littered with vulnerabilities," he said.
Efforts must now be made to finish the design as soon as possible, he added.
"It is critical to get a full spec for HTML 5 and there needs to be a serious focus on making sure the browser is secure."
HTML 5 is being developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3).
QR pornographyContinue reading the main story“Start QuoteWe have moved from a situation where we were playing a game of draughts with a slightly drunk opponent to a skilled chess player who knows all the tricks we know”
End QuoteJame LyneDirector of technology, Sophos Sophos said other targets for cybercriminals in 2012 would include the use of near-field communication (NFC), which allowed users to wave a mobile phone at a NFC-enabled reader in order to make small purchases.
"The mobile phone becomes a digital credit card which makes it really worth hacking," said Mr Lyne.
Some of the threats for the coming year are lower-tech - such as malware stickers placed over the QR codes used by firms to allow smartphone owners access to content.
QR codes typically appear on posters. Once scanned with a mobile phone and opened with a QR reader, app users can get access to a range of content.
Train stations, for example, use QR codes to allow passengers to download timetables.
But cybercriminals are exploiting their popularity by placing their own stickers on top of the QR codes to take people to more nefarious sites.
"I used one on a train station and it took me to a Russian porn site," said Mr Lyne.
Crime packs
2011 has been a bumper year for malware. Sophos said it received an average of 150,000 pieces of malicious code each day - a 60% increase on this time last year according to the firm.
Global cybersecurity spending is on track to exceed $60bn (

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Nintendo's 3DS update had been dragging its feet, but it's got its act together, sneaking out to devices a day earlier than expected. It will add both 3D video-recording and DLC capabilities to the handheld, although there's been no confirmation yet of the Hulu Plus feature promised back in October. According to Joystiq, there's now a new Nintendo Zone to interact with when connected to certain WiFi hotspots and a host of new "accomplishments" to unlock on StreetPass. Users are reporting that the update is rolling out now -- it may be worth booting up that guilty Black Friday purchase for a look-see.

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When the iPhone 4S was first announced, Siri was one of the features that caught most peoples attention. Although it might not be all that useful day to day when in an office, it certainly has its uses when travelling about when you might not be able to pick up your phone and use it. With that in mind, Autoblog decided to test Siri with a number of bluetooth car systems to see if it works over a handsfree kit.

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Two Droid units, two weeks in a row here at HWYC? Say it ain't so! This go 'round, we've got Motorola's Droid Bionic, yet another LTE handset in Verizon Wireless' stable, and with a $300-on-contract asking price, we're pretty sure the early adopters will have some pointed things to say. Still feeling like your chunk of change was spent on something worthwhile? How's the battery life? Would you have jazzed up the overall design in any way? Feeling like you should've waited for the Galaxy Nexus? Good or bad, we're eager to hear your comments now that you've had a few months to play around with it -- drop 'em in comments below!

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Official Android updatesAmazon began delivering a system update to the Kindle Fire this week, updating the tablet to version 6.2 of its software. It's an OTA update that gets installed automatically. All Amazon will say about the new version is that it provides improvements to the Fire's operation.

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In a slightly underwhelming attempt to match Amazon's Lending Library proposition, Kobo will start to offer a free download each month to new Touch eReader owners. Starting in January, customers will be able to pick from the decidedly broad selection of Pride and Prejudice, HBR's 10 Must Reads: On Managing People and Star Wars Vs. Star Trek. Unfortunately, the offer is limited to devices purchased between November 24 and March 31 2012, but Kobo is hoping that the ability to hold on to the titles indefinitely will cancel out Amazon's legion of free rentals. Users can sign up to the ebook's offers mailing list for the full details. Remember: A book is for life, not just for Christmas.

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has added a new feature to Google Maps for Android devices. The new feature lets you navigate indoors around a building and is even capable of telling you what floor you are on.
The reason for the new feature is that when you navigate to a destination such as from your home to the airport, you are taken door to door. With the latest version of Maps (6.0) you can now see exactly where you need to go when you get to the door of the airport. Accuracy is available within several meters and the software can detect when you move floors.

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Kiss that old "New Xbox Experience" goodbye -- the Xbox Dashboard just went full Metro. Microsoft teased the console's latest overhaul back at E3, promising to "change living room entertainment forever." The following months saw leaks, previews and betas, all leading up to today, the eve of the Xbox 360's Fall Dashboard update. Is the new dash the game-changer it hopes to be? Hit the break, and we'll find out together.
Xbox Live 2011 Fall Dashboard update

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A handy trick was found a few weeks ago which let users create shortcuts in iOS to various settings without the need to jailbreak the iPhone. These shortcuts could be used to switch WiFi on and off which then prevented the need to go home, click settings, click wireless and toggle it off. It appears that the latest 5.1 update has now broken this feature.

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Lenovo has decided to release two new Android tablets in the Chinese market. Known as the 7-inch LePad S2007 and 10-inch LePad S2010, both models support for China Telecom’s EV-DO plus China Unicom’s WCDMA. These tablets are powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm dual-core processor, the Google Android 3.2 operating system, a 1GB of RAM, a 1,280 x 800 multitouch IPS display, an 8MP rear-facing camera, a 1.3MP front-facing camera and Wi-Fi connectivity. The Lenovo LePad S2007 has a 3,780mAh battery that can last up to 8-hour of operating time, while the Lenovo LePad S2010 is equipped with a 7,560mAh battery that offers up to 11-hour of operating time. No word on pricing at this time.

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iFixit managed to get hold of a Galaxy Nexus early thanks to someone in the UK. In the US the new smartphone hasn't even launched yet.
As always, iFixit has taken the device apart to see what it looks like inside and also to look at what chip numbers are used as well as determine how easy the new device is to repair.

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The new LG DX2500 glasses free 3D monitor has been released in South Korea. Available in 20-inch and 24-inch models, the LG DX2500 features the parallax barrier 3D technology and an integrated camera for enhanced 3D experience based on your position (head-tracking). What’s more, the LG DX2500 comes equipped with the “TUV Rheinland” certification. This glasses free 3D monitor is expected to be released internationally next year. Stay tuned for more updates.

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The MPro-i700S is Mouse Computer’s latest desktop PC for the Japanese market that sports a 3.20GHz Intel Core i7-3930K processor, a GeForce GTX 550 Ti 1GB graphics card, an Intel X79 Express Chipset, a 16GB DDR3 RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a DVD Super Multi Drive and runs on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (SP1) OS. The MPro-i700S is available now for 129,990 Yen (about $1,673).

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By now, you should all be familiar with Griffin's Beacon universal remote system, as we've gotten our hands on the iPhone version and let you know about the one for Android, too. Well Dijit, who creates the apps that work with the Beacon hardware, wasn't done, and so has released an iPad-specific app to take advantage of the extra screen real estate it affords. Dijit calls it a "reimagined" version of the iPhone app and it provides both a new look and some new functionality to the Dijit experience. We got to spend some time with the app at gdgt Live in San Francisco, and found it to be quite similar to the recently released Android version. Head on past the break for a video breakdown of Dijit for iPad and our impressions of the app in action.



Dijit for iPad supports the same sizable library of devices as its predecessors and helps you to find the right IR codes for your A/V gear, so the initial setup is relatively painless. The app itself integrates social networks to help you find new content of interest -- similar to services like Miso and Buddy TV. Not only does the app show your TV listings, but it can access Netflix and let users play YouTube clips inside the app, plus there's episode and cast information on tap as well. As in previous iterations, the remote control layout is fully customizable and allows users to pick and choose their buttons of choice while arranging them in any configuration. Right now, the app still works using Bluetooth to communicate with the IR blaster hardware, but the folks from Dijit told us they're working on making the app communicate directly with smart TVs over WiFi using UPnP. Keep at it guys, you've got about six weeks to get it ready for show-and-tell at CES.

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The Crypteks USB is claimed to be the world’s first USB storage device that supports a 256-bit AES hardware encryption. Measuring at only 3.1-inch x 1.1-inch, the portable storage device offers a total of 14,348,907 possible combinations. The Crypteks USB is also made from ultra high grade aluminum. Available in an 8GB and a 16GB models, the Crypteks USB is priced at $130 and $160, respectively.

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