A New Jersey Transit spokesperson has announced that its seeking a company to install WiFi on its rail lines and at its train stations. The installation would make New Jersey one of the few major transit systems in the country to have WiFi on its 165 stations and 12 lines. The spokesperson also said they hope to get the installation under way quickly, and to have the hotspots available to riders by next year.

New Jersey transit looks to add WiFi to its rail lines and stations, New Yorkers to pretend they didn’t hear that originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Music identification app Shazam has announced big feature updates to its iPhone and iPod touch music discovery apps.

There are now customised settings for ‘tagging on start-up’ make the process of identifying a music track faster, a new UI, the ability to search for ringtones and videos on iTunes and better video. You can also share tunes you find via Facebook and Twitter. Shame it doesn’t own its name on Twitter then.

When I read Twitter CEO Evan Williams post tonight about the state of Twitter from a mobile perspective, the first thing that jumped out at me what that Twitter for Android, an app Twitter worked hard on, isn’t even in the top 10 most-used apps for the service. But Williams also used the post to whip out some impressive numbers. Chief among them: Twitter now has over 145 million registered users (though presumably less than 150 million, or he would have said that). And there are now nearly 300,000 registered apps in the Twitter ecosystem.

The latter number above is technically the number of registered OAuth apps in the ecosystem (and includes multiple instances of some apps). Twitter made the switch over from basic authentication to OAuth a few days ago, leaving behind some apps, such as the old Tweetie (which was reborn as Twitter for iPhone). Williams says this number of registered apps has tripled since their Chirp conference — which was only this past April.

Other big numbers thrown out there by Williams:

• Mobile users have jumped 62% since mid-April
• 16% of all new users to Twitter now start on mobile (it was 5% before Twitter started doing branded mobile clients)
• 46% of active users use some sort of mobile Twitter experience
• 78% of people who interact with Twitter still do so through twitter.com — though that number includes people who use more than one app
• m.twitter.com is the second most-used Twitter interface at 14%
• SMS and Twitter for iPhone are tied at 8%

Lastly, he throws in that Twitter’s Promoted Products (read: their first big monetization pitch) has “exceeded our expectations.” No word on if that means Twitter has turned a profit, but that seems pretty unlikely. Still, revenues are undoubtedly growing.

Feel like connecting a HTPC or even one of the many streamers to your HDTV is overkill? Toshiba’s new StorE TV+ is prepared to quietly retain up to 2TB of media (in various formats, check after the break for specs) until called upon, when it can play them back via HDMI, no connected PC required. It can also connect to PCs or other DLNA devices (like, coincidentally enough, Toshiba’s new HDTVs) networked via Ethernet and the included WiFi dongle or load files directly from memory cards and USB drives. Even with all that, a lack of access to internet video sources makes the £199 MSRP a tough sell even ith 2TB of space at the ready, but if it works its way into a TV bundle then there may be buyers willing to bite when it ships next month, while an eSATA hard drive only StorE.D10 model will follow later this year for an unknown price.

Continue reading Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV

Toshiba StorE TV+ drive connects up to 2TB of media directly to your HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In what amounts to yet another co-branding marketing kerfuffle, Philips and O’Neill have teamed up on a foursome of so-called durable headphones. The Stretch headphones (pictured) are the toughest of the bunch, constructed from an ultra-durable, temperature-resistant, and awesome-sounding material called TR 55LX that boasts a surface hardness six times greater than the polycarbonate stuff found in most headphones. The Snug series boasts “bold graphics” and can fold flat, while the in-ear Covert buds brings an iPhone controller. Last, and apparently least, is the “stylish” Specked with tangle free cord. Amazing. All are said to have been tested by the “toughest O’Neill team riders.” As proof, O’Neill is trotting out Jeremy Jones, Mark Mathews, and Ane Enderud to promote its new gear, presumably because they want to and not because they are contractually obligated under the terms of their respective high-paying sponsorships. Needless to say, these headphones aren’t for you if you don’t know who these people are or you lack the fragile hipster ego required to wear them. No prices were announced, but you can expect them to match the “premium” description when these arrive for retail in Europe and the US sometime this month.

We did give Stretch a go for a quickie ears-on, and honestly, while the cloth cord was a nice touch and they do seem to be super rugged, we’d prefer that the team paid a bit more attention to the sound quality than the finish.

Continue reading Philips and O’Neill launch durable headphones — shaka bra!

Philips and O’Neill launch durable headphones — shaka bra! originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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