epic

On today's show, a brief digression on the topic of McRibs and then back to the serious news of the Windows Phone 7 launch, Amazon doubling rev share for newspaper and magazine publishers, and broadband satellite service with real speeds. Also, our review of the first TV with Google TV inside, and the best looking iPhone game ever. --Molly

Although it has touted privacy as a key concern, the White House isn't faring as well as it should in that area, at least according to a report card from a noted privacy group.

Released last week by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the 2010 privacy report card (PDF) gave the Obama administration a grade of C in consumer privacy, a B in medical privacy, a D in civil liberties, and a B in cybersecurity. Offered by a group of privacy experts at a Capitol Hill briefing, the 2010 report card reflects lower grades in a couple of … Read more

Since last year's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo has demonstrated a commitment to updating successful franchises from the company's archives, but keeping the majority of the classic gameplay and look in tact. The latest incarnation comes in the form of Kirby's Epic Yarn. Though it may not look like Kirby games in the past, fans of the series will see a lot of familiar faces.

Jeff: Next to Mario, Kirby might be Nintendo's most versatile mascot, seemingly finding his way into one unique adventure after another. In Kirby's Epic Yarn, Kirby himself--along with the entire world the game takes place in--is made up of nothing but yarn, threads, fabrics, and buttons. The art style is among some of the most original work we've seen considering there have certainly been countless platform games on the market.

The developers have brilliantly incorporated the yarn theme into the title, with gorgeous visuals and clever level design. Players interact with fabrics seamlessly and the game's controls are spot on.

Epic Yarn is a much welcomed departure from the usual laundry list of shooters and action games that reveal themselves around the holiday season, and best of all, it's perfect for gamers of all ages. Sure, the older Wii owner may not find much of a challenge in Epic Yarn, but the unique game scenarios and variations in gameplay are much more fun simply experiencing them anyway.… Read more

After last month's introduction of the Samsung's Epic 4G, Sprint now has two smartphones that support its growing 4G WiMax network. Though both handsets offer high-end features, luscious displays and the Android operating system, the Epic 4G and HTC Evo 4G aren't identical. The Epic has a nifty physical keyboard, for example, and the Evo has a superior camera and the Froyo (Andorid 2.2) update.

So which 4G phone is better? How do the devices stack up when compared with each other? Is the original handset, the Evo 4G, still the best or can the newcomer … Read more

Sprint customers in San Francisco who have a 4G-enabled device woke up to a pleasant surprise today as the carrier began a few public tests of its WiMAX-based 4G network there. So those who have the HTC Evo 4G, the Samsung Epic 4G, or the Sprint Overdrive might finally see the 4G bars light up in certain parts of the city.

We did detect some 4G activity here in our CNET office on Second St., though we found that speeds varied. Running the Speedtest.net app, we found that indoor speeds often averaged around 500kbps downstream and 1.2Mbps upstream. … Read more

During last week's Galaxy Tab event in Manhattan, Samsung teased the imminent availability of its Media Hub service, and now it looks like Sprint is the first carrier to roll out the video store to a Galaxy S smartphone, its Samsung Epic 4G.

In a blog post, Sprint said it began pushing out a software update in recent days, which enables Epic 4G owners to download TV shows and movies to their phones to either rent or purchase.

Movie rentals cost $2.99 to $3.99 and are available 24 hours from the time of purchase. If you want … Read more

Editors' note: If you've already read "Battle Royale: Five smartphones face off" or "Battle Royale 2: The Quickening" (OK, it wasn't actually called "The Quickening"), then you may experience some deja vu when reading this article. We've used the same tests and presented the article in the same style. Only the phones in question and the details of their performance have changed. Because of some technical difficulties on the back-end our How We Test Smartphone Displays page isn't up yet, but hopefully, by Round 4 it will be.

In the last six months I've tested 10 different smartphone displays, including the three new ones presented today. The response from both Android and iPhone fans has been interesting, if not unexpected. I assume this round will be no different. Once again, using DisplayMate Multimedia Edition for Mobile Displays, I put each phone through a battery of tests.

In our last roundup, we received some reader complaints for comparing the iPhone 4 to the original Droid and HTC Evo and not the Droid X or Droid incredible. Both of which hadn't been released at the time of last round's testing.

Well, today is a new day and with that comes the promise of a more robust evaluation (or so the saying goes). For Round 3, not only do we have the iPhone 4, but also the Motorola Droid X, the HTC Droid Incredible, and the Samsung Epic 4G. These were the most-requested phones according to the comments and e-mails from the previous round.

Like in previous roundups, we used three different types of tests to evaluate each phone:

Scientific measurements: We used the Konica Minolta CS-200 ChromaMeter to test the maximum brightness, black level, and contrast ratio of each phone and reported numbers for each of these three tests.

Test pattern screens: We used several DisplayMate Mobile test patterns to test for color-tracking errors, 24-bit color, and font legibility, among others.

Real-world: We conducted real-world anecdotal testing using 3D games, photos, and a little tool I like to call "the sun" to test the diffuse reflectance of each display.

All test screens were viewed within each phone's native gallery application. Some phones may handle pictures differently--and even improve them to some extent--outside the gallery application. That said, we believe that testing within the respective gallery applications is still a viable test, as this is where most users will view pictures on their phones.

In order to diminish potential repetition, I'll dive right into the details of how each phone performed; if you'd like to know more about our tests, you can binge on nerdy details in our "How we tested" section at the bottom of this article. Please note that this is an evaluation of each phone's screen performance and nothing else. Check out the full reviews of these phones to determine which is right for you. Also, DisplayMate will soon be posting a more technically focused evaluation of the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S (same screen as the Epic 4G) screens that I'm sure will be worth checking out.

The bottom line… Read more

Aside from Game Center, Epic Games opened plenty of eyes with its beautiful-looking swords-and-castle-exploring game demo at Apple's iPod-themed music event. Although the full game won't be released for a while, a free demo has hit the App Store to show skeptics how impressive the game's graphics really are.

We downloaded Epic Citadel for a peek on our iPhone 4, and it is admittedly a thin experience: you're limited to wandering around the city with dual analog virtual pads and looking at the pretty scenery. However, the graphics are truly as impressive as what was witnessed … Read more

If you've been waiting for the Samsung Epic 4G, it can now be yours, as Sprint's second 4G smartphone hits the streets Tuesday.

The Epic 4G will run you $249.99 with a two-year contract and after a $100 mail-in rebate. However, you can also pick up the phone at Best Buy and Radio Shack to get an instant $100 savings and avoid the hassle of a mail-in rebate. Even better, Wal-Mart and Amazon are currently offering the phone for $199.99.

Unlike the other Samsung Galaxy S models, the Epic 4G features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a … Read more