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US computer giant Dell reports another decline in its quarterly profits, sending its shares 7% lower.

This writer is on record saying that gaming is the real killer app for 3D, and while we wait for 3D movies to find a home distribution method and start throwing some weight around, that continues ring true. Luckily, the ASUS G51J 3D doesn’t skimp on the graphics power, despite its almost-pretty-portable 15.6-inch size. We checked out Left 4 Dead 2 in 3D on the machine, using the included NVIDIA 3D setup, and were pretty impressed by the gaming graphics and what 3D adds the experience. The technology is obviously maturing, and the thought of being able to do this on a portable machine makes it even more consumer friendly — it’s not like anyone buys desktops anymore. Our only gripe with the machine is that it’s pretty generic and even ugly looking, and the display itself is sharp and bright but suffers from some odd viewing angle problems: the blacks have a tendency to flip out when we get slightly off axis. Viewing some stills shot on Fujifilm’s FinePix REAL 3D W1 camera, however, really showed off how vibrant the display is, and as long as you stay on the straight and narrow (most 3D applications are single user anyway) you should be fine.

ASUS G51J 3D hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may bang on the legacy airlines, but American Airlines has a good thing going here with Gogo. The outfit has just completed installation of in-flight WiFi on 150 of its MD-80 aircraft, and in order to give you a better idea of how to prepare, it’s now launching an online widget that’ll let you know if your bird will enable web surfing when you get on. The tool is completely web-based, so any PC or smartphone can access it; the only real knock is that it only informs you of a “yes” or “no” 24 hours prior to departure, so it’s still impossible to book a flight 3 months out and know for certain if you’ll be able to hop online. This is definitely something that should be adopted by the other airlines (pronto!), but we can’t help but dream of the day when something like this is unnecessary due to in-flight internet becoming completely ubiquitous. Ah, the future — how you tease us so. Demonstration vid is after the break.

Continue reading American Airlines launches online widget to sniff out WiFi-equipped flights

American Airlines launches online widget to sniff out WiFi-equipped flights originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The prototype of a solar-powered plane destined for a record round-the-world journey makes its first trip across a runway.

Internet search giant Google previews its Chrome OS operating system, to be available to users by the end of 2010.