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Sony will resume some PlayStation Network services and beef up its security nearly two weeks after a hacker attack forced Sony to shut it down. The company made the announcements during a press conference in Tokyo. Kaz Hirai, Sonys executive deputy president and the likely successor to CEO Howard Stringer, started by offering our deepest and sincerest apologies for the outage of the PlayStation network, as well as apologizing to customers whose personal information has been compromised. Hirai confirmed that lots of users account information was stolen as the result of a hacker attack that has forced Sony to shut down PSN and Qriocity services for the last two weeks. Sony says that it was first alerted to the attack on April 20 and has been working with authorities and two security firms to investigate. This criminal act against our network had a significant impact not only on our consumers but our entire industry, Hirai said. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespr...

Sony's PlayStation Network has been down for over a week, and it's a royal mess for all involved -- as you've no doubt heard, an external intrusion by unknown hackers compromised the personal information (including everything but credit cards) of potentially tens of thousands of users. Tonight, Sony VP Kaz Hirai (formerly of the PlayStation division) will address the world from the company's headquarters in Japan, and our friends at Engadget Japanese are on the scene to bring us first-hand details in just a few minutes. Additionally, there appears to be an official livestream that will begin at 1AM ET, so keep it locked right here and potentially find some video at our source link. Developing... Sony's Kaz Hirai will address PlayStation Network hack at 1AM ET, stay tuned originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 May 2011 00:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Motorola's Atrix 4G may have some serious competition from a performance standpoint, but it's still got one thing going for it over all of the other Android superphones hitting the streets these days: an optional laptop dock. 'Course, it's debatable whether or not said accessory is truly worth paying for, but the phone itself has certainly done its fair share of impressing. You've read our take on Motorola's latest Android whizkid, and now it's your turn to vent. If you had the power necessary to overhaul the Atrix 4G, how would you go about doing so? Would you nix Motoblur altogether? Toss the latest build on Android onboard? Make it available on more carriers? Handle the laptop dock differently? All ( sane ) opinions are welcome, and comments are open below. How would you change Motorola's Atrix 4G? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 22:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

After a CES reveal and finding out the release date of all the Star Wars films on Blu-ray, what more could there be to find out? Apparently quite a bit, and LucasFilms has sent out an email informing those interested to keep an eye on maythe4th.starwars.com (great pun, George, did you come up with that one on your own?) where it is promised "all will be revealed" -- most likely details on the extensive special features and official box art -- at 9 AM EST. Clear your Wednesday calendar and keep refreshing that page, which currently features a conveniently ticking countdown to the main event. Continue reading Star Wars Blu-ray details to be revealed May 4th Star Wars Blu-ray details to be revealed May 4th originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 20:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comment! s

What we're watching tonight: Fox (720p) has NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Richmond at 7 p.m. CBS (1080i) presents Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao vs. Mosley at 8 p.m. NBC (1080i) airs Chase at 8 p.m. BBC America (1080i) has Doctor Who at 9 p.m. A&E (720p) has Parking Wars at 10 & 10:30 p.m. Versus (1080i) has NHL Playoffs action with Predators/Canucks at 9 p.m. ESPN (720p) has Oklahoma/Texas college softball at 8 p.m. ESPN2 (720p) has The Penn Relays at 8 p.m. Spike (1080i) has UFC Prelims at 8 p.m. PPV (1080i) has UFC 129 at 9 p.m. HDTV Listings for April 30, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 18:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Looks like AT&T isn't the only carrier patching cellular connectivity issues this month -- a Verizon document suggests that we'll be getting some brand new radio firmware for the beleaguered HTC Thunderbolt. The handset not only fell victim to Verizon's LTE outage but has had 3G data and CDMA / LTE cycling issues since day one, so we're hoping this latest baseband will bring at least a modicum of relief for affected speed demons across the country. What we don't know is when this patch might show up -- we thought the Xoom's security update would be imminent, but those documents were unceremoniously pulled. HTC Thunderbolt getting new radio firmware, according to Verizon doc originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

Since the world's engineers haven't yet come up with a way to read minds over the internet (or at all, last we checked ), we're not sure what you think about the proposed marriage of T-Mobile to AT&T . We're pretty sure you do have an opinion of some sort, though, and if you want it to be heard, now's the opportunity to let the Federal Communications Commission read your thoughtful, reasoned take on how a GSM monopoly in the United States might or might not work. (Speak now or forever hold your peace, in other words.) To comment, simply visit the source links below, where the FCC has some handy forms -- one for short comments, one for long comments (where you have to attach a PDF document) and one with the magic number of the related proceeding, which is 11-65. Let 'em know just how you'll be impacted if the deal goes through, for better or for worse. [Thanks, Jeff] FCC opens floor for public comment on AT&T / T-Mobile deal originally appeared on E...

We knew our man from Zieggzville couldn't last more than a few weeks without us: Chris Ziegler returns to the Engadget Mobile Podcast, for one week only, to rap about hyperspectra, megabevelling, and macroeconomics. It's a party, y'all, and we'd hate for you to miss it. Hosts: Myriam Joire ( tnkgrl ), Vlad Savov Guest: Chris Ziegler Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Daestro - Light Powered ( Ghostly International ) 00:01:36 - Samsung Galaxy S II review 00:15:00 - Samsung Galaxy S II GPS -- it works, it really works! (video) 00:38:29 - Could the iPhone 5 look like a beveled iPod touch? 00:51:35 - NPD credits Verizon iPhone with stemming the Android tide in Q1 smartphone sales 00:52:05 - White iPhone thicker 00:57:05 - HTC's latest qHD phones, Kingdom and Rider, courtesy of Mr. Blurrycam 01:01:14 - Motorola tests update for Atrix 4G, includes HSUPA support 01:08:17 - LG licenses ARM Cortex-A15 and Mali-T604 graphics, starts scheming up mobile processors of its own 01:1...

If you're the somewhat-proud-but-feeling-throttled owner of a Motorola Atrix 4G or HTC Inspire 4G, your days of terribly slow uploads are nearly through -- AT&T is rolling out updates that provide "increased potential data speed" to both HSPA+ handsets today, right on cue . The Inspire 4G's patch will also "make the email set up process much easier," while the Atrix 4G will actually get a pair of updates which will allegedly bring better Bluetooth headset compatibility, fingerprint reader performance and battery life (which is always a plus) as well as the questionable utility of turning the Atrix into an EDGE hotspot, and a bump to Android 2.2.2 to hopefully fix the SMS routing bug . Word of warning though, you'll need to throw your Atrix up on a WiFi network to obtain these goodies -- all the Gs in the world won't help you. AT&T brings HSUPA to Atrix 4G and Inspire 4G, one requires WiFi to download update originally appeared on Engadget ...

We've praised Plex in the past for delivering us box-free XMBC and for it's prodigious media streaming proficiency . Problem is, its app wasn't optimized for the Honeycomb OS and the upsized screen real estate of Android slates -- until now. With the updated code comes tablet-friendly layouts and fast-scrolling in all grid and list views so you can zip through your large local media library. It also includes direct play and internet streaming sans-transcoding (just like the recently revised iOS app ) for sating those right now vid cravings. The improvements serve smaller Android devices as well, which makes the newly egalitarian app more enticing than ever before. Best of all, it's still only five bucks. [Thanks, Andrew] Plex plays nice with your Honeycomb slate after app update originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Em! ail this | Comments

HTC 's newly announced Wildfire S -- or model number PG76110 -- just finished pinballing its way through the FCC's labs, coming out the other side with 1900 / 850MHz dual-band HSPA. As a quick refresher, this phone was launched at MWC this year and features a 3.2-inch display, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, Bluetooth 3.0, and runs Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Considering how many handsets are still shipping with Froyo, we expect this combination of Google's newest OS, HTC's Sense UI V3.0, plus an affordable price point to make the Wildfire S a popular device when it finally hits these shores. Of course, before you get all giddy, we'd like to remind you that while the Wildfire S does support the right 3G bands for AT&T, there's no guarantee it'll end up there. HTC Wildfire S earns top marks with FCC, supports AT&T compatible 3G originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 09:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Perm...

TiVo might not be rolling out enough updates to apease TiVo Premiere owners, but the TiVo Premier App for iPad updates keep on rolling. This latest addresses a couple of the beefs we pointed out in our review -- we'd like to think we have influence, so let us believe -- such as the inability to search for a channel by name, and resuming quicker and more consistently from standby or other apps. The yearn for a sports mode still goes unfilled though, right along with a full screen grid guide; but those pushes the limits of their storage will appreciate the new space indicator, and everyone can get behind speed improvements. If you're already using the App, then no reason not to upgrade, but for those still on the fence this isn't the big release you're waiting for. TiVo Premiere App for iPad gets modest update originally appeared on Engadget HD on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 09:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink | Email this | Comments

No frogs transformed into princes and no wicked stepmothers were vanquished -- not on camera, at least -- but today's royal wedding managed to capture the world's imagination. Thanks to partnerships with CBS, the Associated Press, UK Press Association, and Entertainment Tonight , the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton broke viewing records on Livestream.com, maxing out at 300,000 simultaneous viewers and a total of "at least 2 million" unique users, according to Max Haot, the site's CEO. We reached out to YouTube and Facebook to see how they did on the streaming front, but neither site has a finally tally -- though a Facebook spokesperson did tell us that 6,819,072 people have commented on the wedding in the past 24 hours. We don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but we hear News Corp. has secured the rights to the Royal Divorce -- just in case. Royal wedding livestream breaks hearts, records originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 ...

Toshiba's forthcoming Honeycomb tablet is already headed to Japanese stores as the Regza AT300, but it's been a bit slower in arriving stateside. Now it seems the company could be close to shipping a real, working product here in the US. The still unnamed slate -- dubbed the ET100/WT100 for now -- has won FCC approval for its 802.11n and Bluetooth radios. To recap, the slate will have a 10.1-inch (1280 x 800) display, run on NVIDIA's Tegra 2 platform, and sport dual cameras, HDMI and USB ports, an SD card reader, and, possibly, a removable battery. We say, bring it on. Toshiba's ET100/WT100 Honeycomb tablet clears the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink Wireless Goodness | FCC | Email this | Comments

Did Pioneer design its forthcoming in-car AppRadio to look like the iPhone ? Looking at that mock-up screen above, its hard to say otherwise and the company isnt denying it either. Though the icons on that 6.1-inch capacitive touchscreen mockup might seem like those on the iOS interface, the AppRadio is not running Apple s smartphone operating system. However Pioneer claims its exactly like the iOS experience, with the iPhone seamlessly blended into the proceedings, according to CrunchGear . Connect an iPhone to the AppRadio using an Apple dock connector cable, and it will use the iPhones cellular connection as well as any ! of its c ontacts and music. Pioneers apps will include Pandora , iHeartRadio, some unspecified social media apps and probably many others if Apple lets the company get away with it. The hardware boasts all the accoutrements befitting a higher-end automotive head-end unit, such as Bluetooth connectivity, GPS, a rearview camera port and a microSD card slot thro...

That non-standard charge port on your Tesla Roadster isn't proprietary, it's just outmoded -- but don't worry, a four foot adapter is here to save the day. This new J1772 to Roadster connector bridges the Roadster's 2008 designed charge port to the industry standard J1772 , adopted by automakers and energy firms over a full year after the Roadster's debut. The new coupling cable will juice up your wheels in just four hours at EV stations outputting 70 amps, or in seven and a half hours for the average 32 amp level 2 charger. Native plug access to those thousands of ChargePoint stations will set you back $750, but if you've already bought a Tesla Roadster , that's just another drop in the ($100,000) bucket. Tesla J1772 mobile connector standardizes Roadster, costs $750 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink Autoblog Green | Tesla | Email this | Comments