Poochi the robot dog can talk with your 3DS (and play rock-paper-scissors)

You can count on Japan to perpetually push the idea of robot pets -- and some of us are okay with that. Poochi is the latest effort from Sega Toys, and it can interact with with a downloadable app / mini-game on Nintendo's 3DS. This particular robot...



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New malware can live inside any USB device undetected

It turns out that the stalwart USB thumbstick, or any universal serial bus device, isn't as trustworthy as once thought. A pair of security researchers has found we need to worry about more than just malware-infected files that are stored portable...



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Mars 2020 rover will give us a way to know the red planet better

NASA's been planning for the Mars 2020 rover for a long time now, back when Curiosity was just making its way to the red planet. Now, the agency has finally chosen seven scientific instruments that'll be equipped on the new rover out of the 58...



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Apple decal sellers saw a tremendous spike in sales following 'Stickers' ad

Your worst fear, confirmed: Engadget's staff laptop of choice is the MacBook Air. Other than the massive checks we each personally receive from Apple (har har), it's our go-to laptop because it's light, fast, and great for the kind of work we do. It...



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Wikipedia iOS app relaunches with mobile editing and a new design

Wikipedia recently revamped its app for Android, bringing the ability to edit articles and view random articles in the process. Starting today, those features are also available on iOS, with a new version of the official app available for download in...



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Engadget Daily: HTC Desire 816 review, the perks of being verified and more!

Today, we investigate the perks of being verified on social media, review the HTC Desire 816, look at Distiller's new social network for whiskey lovers and learn about the NFL's next-gen stat technology. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from...



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Facebook's Slingshot now keeps the convo going with reactions to reactions

It's been a little over a month since Facebook unleashed Slingshot, its stab at an ephemeral competitor to Snapchat, so it seems about the right time for it to get its first update. Slingshot, if you'll recall, is a unique messaging app that requires...



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Sony's new Action Cam arrives stateside with SteadyShot and more for $200

Sony's stable of action cams just got a new option for thrill seekers in the US. The HDR-AS20 joins the outfit's HDR-AS100V and HDR-AS30V in capturing daring feats of whatever you fancy. This new model packs the company's SteadyShot image...



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To-do app Wunderlist gets a fresh coat of paint and real-time sync

The folks at 6Wunderkinder have been quite busy as of late, releasing version 2 of the Wunderlist productivity app on top of Pro and Business options for power users. Keeping up the pace, the third installment of the to-do list manager is rolling out...



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WWE Network heading to 170 new countries next month

Fans of professional wrestling seem to be enjoying WWE's new online network. The company announced during its most recent earnings report that it has 700,000 subscribers to date, which is a pretty great sum given the service's mere five-month...



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Office for iPad updated with PDF export, third-party fonts and video playback support

Microsoft's iPad version of Office is pretty sleek, but it isn't perfect: it has limited print and export functions and just isn't as robust as its desktop counterpart. Slowly but surely, Redmond is changing that -- today the company announced a few...



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Boston's due up next on our Engadget Live tour!

Beantown, Titletown, Bahston or Bawston; whatever you call this strong Massachusetts city or how you pronounce it, we're excited to be heading back there. On Friday August 22nd, we'll head to Royale on Tremont St. at 7PM for our third Engadget Live...



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Facebook's Internet.org app offers free web access in Zambia

We've heard quite a bit about Mr. Zuckerberg's plans to bring low-cost internet access to the otherwise disconnected, and today, his social network announced plans to do just that in Zambia. The new Internet.org app allows users to browse weather,...



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Apple's new online content network should deliver your files faster

If you're an iOS or Mac user, your downloads and streams are going to improve in the near future -- if they haven't already. Apple has quietly switched on its own content delivery network (CDN), letting it deliver files directly instead of leaning on...



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The government still won't let Twitter share details about national security requests

Twitter really wants to tell you more about the kind of national security requests it gets from organizations like the Department of Justice and the FBI -- but the government just won't let it. The company's latest transparency report is prefaced...



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BlackBerry's BBM messenger app officially arrives on Windows Phone

Have a Windows Phone and crave access to BlackBerry's famed messaging app? Today's your lucky day. Announced in a video posted today, BBM is now exiting beta to become available for download in the Windows Phone store. The company said it spent...



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CIA admits to spying on US Senate computer network

Back in March 2014, two United States senators accused the Central Intelligence Agency of infiltrating Senate computers. Worse, they accused the CIA of hacking Senate computer networks and accessing files while the Senate's Intelligence Committee was...



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French company Iliad reportedly wants to buy T-Mobile too

Sprint isn't the only company hoping to shell out billions for the privilege of scooping up T-Mobile's US branch; according to the Wall Street Journal, a French company called Iliad wants in on the action as well. Iliad, which owns a mobile operator...



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The perks of being 'somebody' online

The web was supposed to be the great equalizer. But, it turns out, the haves and have-nots exist online too. And they're separated by a mark of distinction: verification. ​A month ago, William Shatner got into an unfortunate public spat on Twitter...



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NFL players to wear shoulder pad RFIDs for on-field stats tracking

The NBA isn't the only professional sports league in the States getting serious about accurate stats accounting. With some help from Zebra Technologies' location system, 17 NFL stadiums will use receivers and RFID (radio-frequency identification)...



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With Qi wireless charging, you'll soon be able to charge your device from a small distance

It's becoming more and more common to find mobile devices with wireless charging capability, either as a built-in feature or integrated into third-party cases. Progress has been somewhat hampered, however, by the fact that no universally adopted...



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Recording industry sues Ford and GM over in-car CD ripping

Ford and GM both sell cars that'll rip a CD to its internal HDD, so you never have to go without your jam in a pinch. Unfortunately, that same feature is now the target of outrage from the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies, which has...



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The second Oculus Rift headset uses the Samsung Note 3 screen, literally

Back when Oculus VR first showed off its second virtual reality development kit, the Facebook subsidiary wasn't saying anything specific about the origins of its new, higher-resolution screen. But now that that second dev kit is shipping to pre-order...



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HTC Desire 816 review: A mid-range M8 let down by sluggish cameras

HTC may have some problems behind closed doors, but outside, it's still widely regarded as one of the world's top phone makers. We already gave this year's One M8 flagship a rather jolly review, and now it's time to see if the same qualities are...



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LG's G Vista looks like the G3 but lacks the power and resolution

What do you get when you cross a 5.7-inch screen with 960x540 resolution and a 3,200mAH battery? Pretty sparse pixel density, that's for sure, but the new LG G Vista for Verizon will keep smartphone-ing through a day and then some. Aimed at the...



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Indiegogo has a new iOS app for mobile crowdfunding

Like giving money to ambitious projects but hate using your computer? Well, that's pretty weird. We think that's weird. Thankfully for you, though, the folks at Indiegogo think that's totally awesome, and they wanna cater to your whims with a new iOS...



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Nanobots get tiny propellers for targeted drug delivery

Nanobots need the proper propulsion system if they're going to be used to deliver drugs to targeted areas. Take for example this teeny-tiny corkscrew-shaped propeller made out of silica and nickel that's developed by a group of German and Israeli...



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Distiller builds a social network for whiskey lovers

If you're a whiskey drinker, finding the perfect bottle can be a daunting quest; just because something is well-rated doesn't mean that it suits your tastes. You're about to get some help from your friends, though, as Distiller has turned its...



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LG announces its first big 4K OLED TV with a non-ridiculous price tag

If you're set on an OLED UltraHDTV instead of LED, you can now put a price and date on your idealism: LG's 65-inch 65EC9700 4K model will reportedly ship in September for $8,999. Apart from those deep OLED blacks, the model also features passive 3D,...



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Runtastic's Orbit band is a fitness tracker that doubles as a running watch

If you've heard of Runtastic, it probably means you're something of a jock: The company got its start building running apps for tracking your distance, pace, et cetera. For the past two years, though, it's been making all sorts of gear to go with it,...



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Amazon's offering 30 free Android apps to help make you a better person

Another month, another batch of 30 free Android apps courtesy of Amazon. Like the bookseller's last Appstore promotion, the "Summer Self-Improvement Bundle" features $100/£100's worth of complimentary apps, as long as you download them within the...



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Tesla seals landmark deal to mass-produce EV batteries in the US

How is Elon Musk going to produce his vaunted $35,000 Tesla when EV batteries are so expensive? By making his own. Tesla has signed a deal with Panasonic that'll see the pair team up to build the Gigafactory. It's from here that vehicle packs and...



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T-Mobile's UnCarrier plans continue to surge at the expense of rivals

T-Mobile keeps riding its UnCarrier plans to increased subscribers, adding 1.5 million in total including 579,000 post-paid phone contracts. That compares to its much larger competitor Verizon, for example, which added mostly tablet contracts and...



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23andMe gets $1.4 million NIH funding to advance human DNA research

Genetic testing firm 23andMe might not be in good terms with the FDA, but it impressed the National Institutes of Health enough for the agency to give it a $1.4 million grant. The money will be used for a two-year project that'll improve the firm's...



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Samsung sees its lowest profit in two years as smartphone sales languish

When Samsung took the time to update investors ahead of its upcoming quarterly earnings report, it warned 'weak demand' for phones and an increased marketing spend could hit the company hard. That report hit today, and it's as bleak as the company...



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Sony makes money on movies and games, but not on smartphones

It wasn't long ago that Sony, almost inexplicably for a company of its size and heritage, was losing money everywhere it went. After a few years of pain, however, things have begun to look up, with the company posting a first quarter net profit of...



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Shazam takes its music discovery powers to the Mac

Shazam has already covered ground on mobile platforms such as iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8, but now it is prepared to bring its media identification software to more devices. And it all starts with Apple's line of personal computers. The newly...



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HTC's latest J Butterfly is a supercharged One M8 in a waterproof body

Japanese carrier KDDI has just announced a new HTC J Butterfly, a handset which resembles the HTC One in specs but with features aimed at its home market. Like a lot of new Sony and other Japanese devices, the 5-inch, full HD handset is waterproof,...



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Google Fiber hardware is being streamlined: fewer boxes, same functionality

Remember that new Google Fiber box we spotted in the FCC last month? It's almost here. According to Kansas City residents in Google's beta program, a new router is on the way that combines the service's existing network and storage boxes into a...



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Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan want to save the future of movies on film

The movie industry has seen its share of struggles as we transition into a digital future, and likely no one has felt the pinch more than film company Kodak. The struggling outfit is getting a life-raft, though, in the form of several studios...



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Danish researchers achieve fastest single-laser data transfer speeds ever

Looking for wicked fast internet? You may want to move to Denmark: researchers in DTU Photonics' High-Speed Optical Communications Group (HSOC) have set a new world record for single-transmitter data transfer. Using a new kind of optical fiber, the...



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Samsung's new UHD TV is the first to go from flat to curved on command

Samsung's new TVs have pressed 4K and curved frames as features, but what if you want one that's only curved sometimes? That's where a bendable TV comes in, and Samsung says it will release the industry's first one on August 1st in Korea. We got a...



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Twitch streams its first live concert tonight

If this weekend's Lollapalooza festival doesn't have enough electronic music for you, tonight you can catch a live DJ set from Steve Aoki (above) as he spins from Ibiza, Spain. The Twitch broadcast starts at 10 p.m. Eastern, so you might have to pull...



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Samsung's paid Milk Music Premium service arrives with offline listening

Samsung has spent months promising a paid tier for Milk Music that takes the gloves off. Well, it's here at last -- an update to the Android app for its exclusive (if Slacker-based) streaming service offers a $4 per month Premium tier that brings...



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FCC head chastises Verizon for throttling unlimited data plans

Not happy that Verizon is going to throttle unlimited LTE data plans? You're not alone. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has just sent a letter to Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead criticizing the carrier for the new policy. He's "deeply troubled" by the move,...



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Sony explains what to expect tomorrow in the PlayStation Now open beta for PS4

Sony's had limited tests of its cloud-based gaming service running for the last few months, but it's taking PlayStation Now to the next level tomorrow by letting anyone with a PS4 join in. There's a new blog post and video up now telling gamers what...



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The top 9 wearables you can buy right now

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Engadget Daily: Snapchat's hefty price tag, life on the ISS and more!

Today, we ponder Snapchat's estimated worth of $10 billion, look at life on the ISS, round up nine of our favorite wearables and learn about an app that lets you video call your doctor. Read on for Engadget's news highlights from the last 24 hours....



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NomadPlus turns your iPhone's wall plug into an external battery

If you're tired of lugging around both an external battery pack and a power adapter to keep your iPhone running, today's your lucky day. Nomad (the company behind the ChargeCard) has started taking pre-orders for the NomadPlus, a 1,500mAh external...



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If you're part of the 'younger set with high income,' you might like this purple potato

Potato breeding programs at Michigan State University and Texas A&M have been churning out modified spuds for the better part of a decade, if not longer, but thanks to A&M's Creighton Miller, we now have a better idea of the 'designer' potato's...



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