Amazon Instant Video streaming is now live on the Xbox 360

If Amazon's video store is going to compete with the other online sources like Hulu and Netflix, getting on as many platforms as possible is key and it made a major expansion today by launching on the Xbox 360. The app launched on the PS3 back in April, and just like that version, this one includes access to Amazon's video on-demand and Prime all-you-can-eat subscription based streaming. Unique to the Xbox 360 app is support for the console's Kinect peripheral and its ability to recognize control by gesture or voice, plus a brand new feature for Amazon -- a queue. The Watchlist (for now only available on the Xbox 360, Kindle Fire and via the web) lets customers preselect programming they're interested in for easy access on the devices...

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Chrome OS review (version 19)

It seems like yesterday that we reviewed the inaugural Samsung Series 5 Chromebook running Google's Chrome OS, an operating system for laptops based on Chrome. It was, from the start, a world in which everything from music playback to document creation happened in browser tabs. Since we last checked in a year ago, Google has addressed some early complaints -- the browser can actually stream Netflix now! -- but it's only just getting around to ticking off someother long-standing grievances, like multitasking. The company just announced two new Chrome OS devices -- the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 and Chromebox Series 3 -- and both run a spanking-new build of the OS that ushers in a simplified desktop with customizable...

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Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 review

When the first Chromebooks hit the market last year, they were greeted with skepticism, curiosity and some noisy debate. Which makes sense: after all, who had ever heard of an operating system based entirely on a browser? Laptops that were only usable when you had an internet connection? It was a wild, ambitious idea, to be sure, but since then, we haven't heard much on that front save for the occasional price cut. Now, though, Samsung is selling the new Chromebook Series 5 550 (and Series 3 Chromebox) it teased at CES, while Google is rolling out a new version of its operating system with offline doc editing, a basic photo editor and a desktop-like space that makes it easier to launch and switch between apps. Like last year's model,...

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Samsung Chromebox Series 3 review

What happens when you put a Chromebook in a box? You get a Chromebox, natch. Not content with launching its new Chromebook Series 5 550, Samsung's adding the Chromebox Series 3 -- a diminutive $329 desktop system -- to its lineup. Like its mobile cousin, the box runs version 19 of Chrome OS and features an Intel Core processor. Though it's clearly targeted at the education and enterprise markets, could Samsung's Chromebox be a compelling option for the Engadget reader? Can it transcend its cloud-based workstation origins? Is it a better choice than an entry-level Mac mini? Find out in our review after the break. Hardware Apple should be flattered -- either that, or it should be readying its army of lawyers. Samsung's Chromebox...

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