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Alright, so it’s no secret that the upgrade path to Windows Mobile 6.5 is pretty limited, but Microsoft has nonetheless gone and laid thing out with another handy upgrade guide to avoid any confusion. The short of it is that those with Windows Mobile 5.0 or 6.0 devices are flat out of luck if they’re looking to upgrade to 6.5 (although they may be able to upgrade to 6.0 or 6.1), while users of Windows Mobile 6.1 devices (but not those aforementioned users that have just upgraded to 6.1) may be able to upgrade to 6.5 at some as yet unspecified point in the future. Right now, that latter group is confined to just eight phones (including the likes of the HTC Dash, Snap and Touch Pro2, and the Samsung Jack and Epix), but Microsoft says more devices may be added at a later date. Still confused? Then hit up the read link below for the complete breakdown, and try to forget about that whole Windows Mobile 7 thing for the time being.

[Thanks, Jammal]

Filed under: Cellphones

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 update guide: no, no, maybe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It may not be the first USB 3.0 hard drive, but Active Media’s new Aviator 312 external SSD does look to be the fastest one around at the moment– assuming it actually lives up to the company’s claims, that is. The biggest of those are read speeds “up to” a blazing 240MB/s and write speeds up to 160MB/s — both, of course, made possible through the magic of USB 3.0, which also just so happens to let the drive be an external one, and be powered solely by USB. Of course, there are a few not insignificant trade-offs as well, the most notable being that the drive is limited to just 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, which also unsurprisingly demand more than their capacities would suggest: $89, $119, and $209, respectively.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Peripherals, Storage

Active Media debuts ‘seriously fast’ Aviator 312 USB 3.0 SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, what do we have here? D-Link’s DIR-685 Xtreme N Storage Router — you know, the 802.11n packing, WAP having, BitTorrent running beaut with USB storage support and 3.2-inch display we first laid eyes on in January at CES — has finally hit store shelves. Every bit as lust-worthy as it was when we initially reviewed it, this bad boy retails for $300. Hit the read link to get in on the action.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Storage, Networking

D-Link Xtreme N DIR-685 storage router now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Engadget Show returns Thursday, October 22nd, in New York City, and we couldn’t be more excited about our guest. We’ll sit down live and in-person with CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer for a frank and unscripted one-on-one conversation… on the day of the Windows 7 launch!

As you may already know, the Show is filmed live in front of an audience once a month — but if you can’t make it, don’t worry. We’re bringing the video back home to Engadget (and as a free download here or in the iTunes Store) for your viewing pleasure. The full show will be online just a few days after we tape.

For this next show, we will also be livestreaming! (Details to come)

We’ll have a lot more info in the coming days and weeks (like where to be and when), but for now, mark your calendars… and get ready! If you want to catch up, you can see the first episode of The Engadget Show here, and our first short segment here.

If you’re a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we’ll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com.

Filed under: Announcements

The next Engadget Show tapes live October 22nd — with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s not every year that the Nobel Prize in Physics falls within our scope of coverage, but this year turned out to a big exception, as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has deemed it fit to recognize two breakthroughs in the fiber optics and digital photography. The first of those (and half of the $1.4 million prize) goes to Charles K. Kao, whose work in the mid-60s getting light to travel long distances through glass strands made the fiber optic cables we have today possible. The second half of the prize is divided between Canadian Willard S. Boyle and American George E. Smith, who both worked at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, and invented the so-called charge-coupled device semiconductor, better known to anyone that has ever looked at a digital camera spec list as a CCD.

[Image courtesy Nobelprize.org]

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Science

Nobel Prize in Physics shared by CCD inventors, fiber optics pioneer originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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