Thought the alphabet soup of modern wireless standards was confusing enough? 1X Advanced / EV-DO Advanced, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-carrier HSPA+, EDGE Evolution, LTE, LTE-Advanced, WiMAX, WiMAX 2... we could keep going, but we'd really rather not. Oh, but we have to, because this one could get really interesting: Nokia Siemens is touting that the specifications for Long Term HSPA Evolution have just been submitted to the 3GPP, promising theoretical speeds in excess of 650Mbps -- a number that still falls shy of the ITU's definition of a 4G standard, but easily eclipses just about anything shy of LTE-Advanced or WiMAX 2.
Interestingly, T-Mobile USA is specifically mentioned in Nokia Siemens' press release as supporting the developments, a testament to the fact that the carrier is firmly committed to wringing everything it can out of legacy 3G standards before moving on -- just as they're already doing with their aggressive 21Mbps HSPA+ rollout. Considering that present-day LTE tops out somewhere in the 300Mbps to 400Mbps range, we can't say we're opposed, especially since the new technology will be backward compatible with today's HSPA networks. Yes, granted: "Long Term HSPA Evolution" is a terrible name considering that LTE already stands for Long Term Evolution (and LTHSPAE isn't the slickest acronym anyway) -- but we'll worry about naming logistics closer to launch, which is still years off. See the full press release after the break.
Show full PR text
T-Mobile USA, Nokia Siemens Networks drive evolution of HSPA
Espoo, Finland – 15 December 2010
Mobile leaders promote standardization of Long Term HSPA Evolution to unleash speeds of more than 650 Mbps
Operators would be able to achieve peak data rates of more than 650 megabits per second (Mbps), thanks to an HSPA standard being driven by T-Mobile USA and Nokia Siemens Networks. Long Term HSPA Evolution would improve mobile broadband with speeds matching those promised by LTE Advanced. T-Mobile USA and Nokia Siemens Networks are driving the technology's standardization aiming to make it available for commercial deployment by 2013.
The proposed key features of Long Term HSPA Evolution were accepted during the plenary meeting of 3GPP RAN held on 7-10 December, 2010*.
"We strongly believe in continued HSPA evolution in parallel to the further development of LTE and LTE Advanced," said Neville Ray, chief technology officer, T-Mobile USA. ''Long Term HSPA Evolution will allow us to enhance our 4G mobile broadband network beyond its current and planned near term capabilities, and provide room for considerable growth and speed enhancements. As customer demand for wireless data increases, we are well positioned to compete based on the speed, breadth and evolution path of our mobile broadband service."
"The demand for higher data rates and mobile broadband growth continues to push the need for advances in both HSPA and LTE technologies," added Keith Sutton, head of the WCDMA business line for Nokia Siemens Networks. "We are thus equally committed to both technologies. As a leader in HSPA evolution, we have already demonstrated data rates exceeding 100 Mbps at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year. Today, we also have the largest number of HSPA customers with nearly 200 operators worldwide. Driving the standardization of the new technology is a natural extension of our efforts to realize the full potential of HSPA."
Nokia Siemens Networks' Single Radio Access Network (RAN) platform is already prepared for Long Term HSPA Evolution. Operators would have a smooth evolution path to handle increased network traffic along with controlling costs with the introduction of the new technology.
In addition, all Long Term HSPA Evolution features are backwards compatible and can be used together with existing WCDMA and HSPA mobiles on the same carriers.
Do you love Engadget? Do you love your iPad? Have you been longing for a day when the two would finally be together? Well guess what? That day has come. Yes, it's true, the Engadget iPad app is now live in the App Store and waiting for installation on every single iPad in existence. Like our previous iOS apps, you'll get a ton of the great features of the site formatted perfectly for mobile devices, but we think we've taken things a lot further on the Apple tablet, providing tons of new browsing, reading, and exploratory options which should keep you enraptured even if terrible things like a nuclear attack or zombie invasion start happening.
All of your news-reading, podcasting-listening, video-watching, comment-posting, Engadget-tipping fantasies are about to become reality, and the application supports sharing via Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and email, while also allowing you to save articles to the iPad (in-app), Instapaper, Read It Later, and Evernote. Quite frankly, it's awesome. The iOS 4-compatible app is available right now in the App Store, so don't wait one more second... go get it!
And before you ask -- yes, updates are coming for all of our other apps as well, including a new iPhone app with iOS 4 support, a BlackBerry update with OS 6 support, and for all you Windows Phone fans... a WP7 app for your new phone!
Twitter has released a list of the top ten re-tweeted Twitterers for 2010. Yes, it was a landmark year in which Colbert -- who takes home the top prize -- made a funny about the oil spill, Drake said something vaguely wise, Lil Wayne announced his return from prison, Bieber said something we couldn't be bothered to translate, fake Al Qaeda knew what was up with geo-location, Joe Jonas made fun of someone with less cred than himself, Lady Gaga reavowed her freakdom, Kanye said he was sorry to Taylor Lautner for calling him a wimp, Rihanna made fun of someone with less cred than herself, and some random person's dad said some mildly amusing stuff. Yup, that about sums it up.
We've been so wrapped up in Kinect hacks lately that we actually missed a Kinect non-hack that emerged last week. PrimeSense, who built the initial Project Natal reference hardware for Microsoft, has released its own open source drivers for the Kinect. PrimeSense is working with Willow Garage (best known for its open source ROS robot operating system), and Side-Kick (a motion gaming startup) through a new OpenNI organization it set up, and the trio will be combining their powers for good. The OpenNI framework will cover low-level hardware support (drivers for actual cameras and other sensors), and high-level visual tracking (turning your body into a 3D avatar that kicks ass in a virtual world). This should be a boon to an already vibrant Kinect hacking community, and if the video above is any indication, we aren't far from Kinect-level interaction and gameplay on our lowly PCs.
Here's an interesting question for you: if you set up a rule in Microsoft Outlook to forward messages from one account to another, and you do it without the knowledge of the owner of the account you're forwarding from, are you intercepting or merely copying mail? It may seem like a moot point, but for David Szymuszkiewicz, a former IRS worker, it's an important distinction. David was afraid of being fired after his license was suspended for drunk driving (he needed to drive to the homes of delinquent taxpayers), so he secretly set up this rule on his boss's machine to see what the world was saying about him. The rule was discovered and, wouldn't you know it, he was in trouble. The only question now: whether to charge him under the Wiretap Act for intercepting messages or the Stored Communications Act for merely copying of them.
So, what was your answer to the question above? You might be tempted to say he was simply making a copy, and indeed that was Szymuszkiewicz's argument, but any Exchange admin will tell you that Outlook rules are executed on the server, not at the client, meaning those e-mails were indeed being intercepted. Szymuszkiewicz was convicted of wiretapping but seems to have avoided a harsh sentence, with 18 months probation being handed down. A light punishment for wiretapping, but a heavy one for diddling menus in Outlook.
Regional carrier MetroPCS is ticking three more checkboxes today as it keeps pushing its ongoing LTE network rollout, and they're big ones: on top of Sacramento, they've added Boston and none other than New York City. That makes the carrier second to launch LTE in the Big Apple -- Verizon's already there -- but you can't take away from the fact that MetroPCS beat the big guys with their first live commercial markets by several months. As for hardware, it's the same as usual: the Samsung Craft dumbphone is your only option, which means that if you're looking to blaze on your notebook with a next-gen USB stick, you're still going to have to head to Verizon anyway. Follow the break for the full press release.
Show full PR text
MetroPCS Launches 4G LTE Services in the Boston, New York City and Sacramento Metropolitan Areas
New Network and Entertainment-Rich Handset, the Samsung CraftTM, Offer Unlimited Affordable 4G Services for All in Three Additional Markets
DALLAS – (Dec. 15, 2010) – MetroPCS Communications, Inc. (NYSE: PCS) today announced the expansion of its unlimited, no annual contract 4G LTE services into the Boston, New York City and Sacramento metropolitan areas. Accessible on the Samsung Craft™, the world's first commercially available 4G LTE handset, MetroPCS' 4G LTE network allows consumers to do more with unlimited talk, text and enhanced entertainment and web browsing features for an affordable price starting at $55 per month including taxes and regulatory fees.
"As the only no annual contract, pay-in-advance wireless service provider offering 4G LTE services, we continue to build our network to allow more customers to experience our unparalleled value and flexible, affordable service," said Roger D. Linquist, president, CEO and chairman of MetroPCS. "By offering customers the ability to do more with easy access to their social networks, exclusive MetroSTUDIOSM content and expanded web browsing capabilities, we are giving our customers what they need – a way to stay connected, without sacrificing time or money."
The Samsung Craft is available in-store or online for $299 plus tax after a $50 instant rebate, while supplies last. Customers can take advantage of all MetroPCS 4G LTE has to offer with the Samsung Craft, including:
- MetroSTUDIO, powered by RealNetworks and available on the $60 service plan, delivers full-track downloads, ringtones and ring-back tones, as well as premium video content from NBC Universal, Black Entertainment Television (BET) and Univision, available on-demand from one easy-to-use application. - A social networking and instant messaging application which harnesses notifications, friends and content from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter and AIM, MSN and Yahoo! IM clients into a single interface that's accessible with one click. - Upgraded MetroNavigator® feature includes new voice-activated GPS and turn-by-turn directions.
The Samsung Craft features a brilliant 3.3 inch AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) screen for a better video experience and comes with a 2GB MicroSD card pre-loaded with Paramount Pictures' hit movie "Star Trek - The Future Begins." The Samsung Craft also contains a combination touch screen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Samsung's TouchWiz™ user interface to surf and text message, 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, a camcorder and is Wi-Fi capable. With today's launch in the Boston, New York City and Sacramento metropolitan areas, MetroPCS' 4G LTE services are available in nine metropolitan areas, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco. MetroPCS has plans to expand its 4G services into more metropolitan areas later this year and into early 2011, including Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa.
The first update for the Google TV platform since its release is now available on Logitech and Sony devices, and takes major strides towards addressing issues we pointed out in our review. The antiquated Netflix app is now sporting a new HTML5 based UI that resembles the one seen on the PlayStation 3, while Dual View has addressed one of our biggest complaints by allowing users to move and resize the video window at will. Another major upgrade is support for an Android remote app arriving today with iPhone version "coming soon." The last major update should be appreciated by Kevin Bacon stalkers enthusiasts with a new info page for movies that pulls in plenty of relevant information and availability online and from the listings all on one page. Our Sony Google TV had the 218 MB update downloaded and ready to install when we turned it on that also promised a few other updates on top of Google's as seen above. We'll check back in a moment to see how things are working -- no word from Google yet on any progress breaking down the walls networks have put up around their streaming content -- peep the updated Dual View and a video of the new remote control app after the break.
Update: The Google TV Remote for Android is now available in the Market, click this link from your Android device to download or snag the QR code after the break.
It may never ship at a price point we peons can stomach, but we're no less thrilled to see RED's fixed lens Scarlet being handled by a mere mortal on video. One Tonaci Tran was fortunate enough to brush into Jarred Land at a 3D workshop, and he just so happened to have a fully functional Scarlet on his person. Tori noted that the unit was a touch lighter than the Epic, and the top-mounted 5-inch touchscreen was obviously rather captivating. We'd bother going on (and on), but chances are you've already clicked through to catch the video. And if not... why?
Meizu CEO Jack Wong has been teasing the M9 handset for some time now, and if we're not mistaken, the official site just went live with a full list of specs to boot. As promised, there's a 3.5-inch 960 x 640 resolution screen (reportedly the Sharp ASV display), and we're also apparently looking at a 1GHz S5PC110 processor (just like the Samsung Galaxy S), Android 2.2, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, 802.11b/g/n, microSDHC, a removable 1370mAH lithium-polymer battery, and support for (drumroll, please) GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA, HSDPA,and HSUPA. Too good to be true? Word on the street is this very phone will be available December 25th in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and will expand to the rest of China days later. We'll believe it when we see it.
The Unreal Engine 3 already made a quite spectacular debut on iOS with Epic Games' own Infinity Blade, but the company's decided it's time to finally stop teasing and give us the software to really play with it. Tomorrow's planned update to the UDK will deliver iOS support, meaning that all the fancy tools that helped make Infinity Blade such a blindingly gorgeous game will be at your fingertips should you be feeling creative. Licensing for the Engine is free for testing and non-commercial use, but you'll have to pay $99 if you want to sell anything you produce with it, to be followed by a 25 percent slice of your earnings beyond $5,000 and, of course, Apple's 30 percent cut of whatever's left. That might not sound like the best business plan in the world, but consider that Infinity Blade is estimated to have racked up over $1.5 million in sales already -- we're sure there'll be enough change left for ice cream even after Epic and Apple have had their share.
The UK's very own Alarm Monitoring Company has developed what it's calling the world's most annoying alarm. The cheeky VuVutech 5000 starts with the company's own AMCO alarm system attached to five powerful air horns topped off with a vuvuzella quintette pièce de résistance. The whole rig is attached to the telephone line where AMCO's interactive monitoring service will trigger 135 decibels of vuvuzella fury upon the unsuspecting intruder who, we imagine, will stand motionless, arms extended, staring skyward in the belief that he just won the 2010 World Cup until the police arrive. See it demonstrated on a "tea boy" after the break.
There are a lot of things to like about Google's prototype Chrome OS machine, the CR-48, not the least of which its name that makes it sound like a relic from the future. Indeed that's what Google wants it to be, a sort of beacon of our instant-on, cloud-based tomorrow, but that's rubbing a few industry pioneers the wrong way. One is Friendfeed creator and former Google employee Paul Buchheit, aka the dude who created Gmail. He's a bit confused about the overlap between Android and Chrome OS, as indeed many of us are, saying flat out that "Chrome OS has no purpose that isn't better served by Android" -- or, at least, it won't when Android gets some tweaks to make it work better in a traditional laptop-style environment.
Meanwhile, GNU founder and free software pioneer Richard Stallman is lashing out a bit more strongly, calling cloud computing "careless computing" because it causes users to give up rights to their own content:
The police need to present you with a search warrant to get your data from you; but if they are stored in a company's server, the police can get it without showing you anything. They may not even have to give the company a search warrant.
As we've recently learned that is at least not the case for e-mail, but what about Google Docs and browsing history and all those private musings you made on Google Buzz? Will ease of access trump data security fears? Will Cara on All My Children ever stop having flashbacks about Jake? Important questions, these.
Hey, you know that Kinect thing that Microsoft recently launched and hasn't been heard of since? Well, it's such a boring and useless creation that somebody had to try and spruce it up. Enter DS Styles, with a bag of 5,000 Swarovski crystals and the courage to use them. The result of that coupling has been the (quite literally) unmissable concoction you see above -- a Kinect that will blind you first, then record your clumsy reaction for posterity second. And it only costs $632, what a steal!
Sorry, everybody, you're not Person of the Year in 2010. For the fourth time in a row someone other than you has won the honor, and this time it's Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Why? Well, Time says it's because his creation has "wired together a twelfth of humanity," but we think a certain highly dramatized blockbuster movie might have something to do with it. Really, it's not luck the Zuck did that much in 2010, except tell some uncomfortable stories when launching Seamless Messaging. Runners up include Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, who had another rough year, and Wikileaks' Julian Assange, who is currently having a rather rough December after shaking up international relations all year long.
See, sometimes dreams do come true. Just days after we asked how you'd tweak the second generation Apple TV, in flies an update that a good many TV owners have been anxiously awaiting. The 4.1.1 update purportedly solves "an issue that causes some high-definition TVs to incorrectly display at 480p," as well as an issue that "may cause a movie or TV show to be re-downloaded." It's pretty obvious that Apple's aiming to correct a nagging color / banding problem that has been plaguing some owners since day one, but according to users over at Apple Insider's forums, it's not a cure-all solution. A handful of members have stated that their sets -- typically using an HDMI-to-DVI adapter -- still display incorrect colors after the update. Flip on your own box and get the download started, and let us know if it's the fix you've been after down in comments below.
Marketing research surveys have proven a good source for yet-to-be-announced information in the past and a recent one by DirecTV may be a good sign for those who prefer their NFL Sunday Ticket over the internet instead of satellite. According to a tipster, some of the questions asking about potential pricing setups indicated the digital version would be available via currently unsupported devices including internet connected Blu-ray players & TVs, "game machines," Apple TV, Roku and Boxee. Another new wrinkle is a $19.99 per weekend pricing plan for streaming NFL Sunday Ticket access among other options. Currently, Sunday Ticket streams in HD to PCs and a bevy of mobile platforms (even without DirecTV's TV service), but it's possible we could see that list expand to several if not all connected TV platforms in the near future -- assuming this isn't just pie in the sky dreaming of course. The NBA, NHL and MLB already play ball with some but not all of the streaming set-top boxes, if the NFL follows them by adding alternate viewing options -- assuming a new labor deal is reached and we actually see football played in late 2011 -- would it make you more likely to subscribe?
Whoa, Nelly! ThinkFlood won't like this... not one bit. If you'll recall, the RedEye universal remote dongle was well received, as a simple 3.5mm adapter added IR beaming to Apple's slate of iDevices. But now, Mashed Pixel has taken the integration one step further, seamlessly embedding an Infrared emitter into a case. Simply pop the Surc around your iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, download the (free) accompanying app and start programming. Before long, you'll be dictating your home entertainment setup sans any external accessories, and heck, you may even improve your phone's reception all the while. The only downside to this approach compared to ThinkFlood's is that the iPad is obviously not supported, and once you upgrade to the iPhone 5, your trusty IR case becomes a glorified paperweight. If you're kosher with that, though, you can get your pre-order in now for $69.95, with initial shipments expected to make their way out in Q1 2011.
Launching at CES 2011, Surc combines in a sleek case a revolutionary IR-connector and a free companion mobile app (downloadable from iTunes App Store) that turn any iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G into a true URC with excellent working range and built-in Micro USB connection for easy charging and synching without having to remove the case.
Highly customizable, Surc lets users personalize their remote control from the buttons to the layout, look and feel, and create their own mobile lifestyle experience. Additionally, Surc can learn the codes from virtually any of the users' IR-remote controls and store them or download them from its extensive database, which removes the need for the users to pair many of their remotes. Users can also control what they watch on their television through the Surc built-in TV Program Guide.
"Surc addresses the growing consumer demand for smart devices that fit their needs for more interactivity and connectivity within the connected home and while they are on the go," said Daphna Kalman, President and CEO of Mashed Pixel. "We designed Surc to be a centralized, personalized gateway that allows quality interaction between multiple content delivery platforms and the users, while simplifying their daily mobile lifestyle experience."
Surc's other key features include:
• InfraRed Communication – No WiFi or multiple receivers are required. Users can control most IR-connected devices and appliances, regardless of their location.
• Apple Compatibility – Surc uses the latest Apple-approved chip technology. As part of the Apple Made for iPod/iPhone program, Surc is compatible with iPhone 4, 3GS and 3G - soon compatible with iPad and iPod Touch 3rd generation.
• 20 Grams of Sleek Design – Surc's sleek, light case allows users to hold the device naturally in their hand. It also includes a Micro USB cable so users don't have to remove it to charge and sync their iPhone.
• Join the Surc Community – Users can join Getsurc.com to be part of the online Surc community, where they will be able to improve their user experience by sharing their tips and expertise and get help from other users. They can also share, search and import customized remotes from other Surc users and are encouraged to provide feedback and suggest ideas that would help improve Surc.
Surc is accepting orders for delivery in the first quarter of 2011 www.getsurc.com. MSRP for Surc will be $69.95 USD.
# # #
About Mashed Pixel Harnessing smart device technology and web 2.0-application development, Mashed Pixel's team of seasoned engineers, designers and developers is dedicated to creating an integrated suite of highly-customizable devices and user-friendly applications for smartphones and smart devices that fit into consumers' mobile lifestyle. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with offices in Haifa, Israel, Mashed Pixel was founded in 2009. For more information about Mashed Pixel and its innovative online and smartphone devices and applications, please visit http://www.mashedpixel.com.
Remember the Windows Phone 7 ads, the ones that promised to "save us from our phones" by giving us more "glance and go" information? For the most part, these phones haven't delivered on that promise due to the relative dearth of apps taking advantage of Microsoft's live tile concept. That changes a bit today thanks to an update to the HTC Hub app that ships with every Windows Phone 7 device manufactured by HTC. Now, instead of a generic double-wide icon, the HTC Hub presents you with the current weather condition and temperature and the forecasted highs and lows. As such, you'll never have to click through and be subjected to HTC's overwrought animations that feel so out of place on Microsoft's more demure user interface. More please.
Ah, those zany Keio University researchers trying to recreate Smell-O-Vision, do you want to know what they're up to these days? They're still trying, of course, but now they've taken the opportunity to demonstrate their hardware -- which uses basic inkjet printer tech to fire off very short bursts of fragrance -- to tech lovers in Japan while still tweaking and refining it. Primarily aimed at helping healthcare professionals in assessing a patient's sense of smell, the Fragrance Jet II has a high degree of control granularity, permitting the varying of both intensity and duration of a scent, which in turn can provide a very accurate measurement of a given person's olfactory acuity. A mobile prototype has also been trotted out (pictured above), hinting at the possibility of eventually shrinking these modules to fit inside cellphones and thus leading us to an awesome future of customizable "incoming call fragrances." Awesome indeed. Video after the break.
Internet Explorer 9 may block 'em in 2011, and the US government's on the case too, but you don't have to wait for Microsoft or bureaucracy to keep your privacy paramount if you browse with Rockmelt or Chrome. That's because former Google developer Brian Kennish just released Disconnect, an extension for either one, that banishes Digg, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo tracking requests (more companies are on the way) as you make your merry way across the web. Install and you'll find a nice little "d" icon on your browser's status bar, with a drop-down menu exposing exactly how many requests you've blocked from each service, and the option to manually disable blocking at will. Why bother? Don't you want to keep that secret love of Thanko products all to yourself?
After Twitter integration and iPad migration, looks like the next stop for Ping is social playlists. That's right -- the next time you make a mix in iTunes 10, clicking on the playlist arrow will give you two options: you can either purchase the playlist as a gift to your friend or loved one, or publish the playlist to Ping itself. Once your playlist is published, you can even give your friends on the network the option to edit it, making it a community playlist of sorts. Of course, this last option only works if you really trust your friends' taste. After all, it just wouldn't do to have Philip Glass invade your "Core Workout Playlist" featuring such beloved anthems Move This by Technotronic and Whoomp! There It Is by Tag Team.
Discounts are raining down from the heavens these days as retailers try to offload old stock and do a bit of tidying up before rolling in the fresh batch of 2011 smartphones. Best Buy is keeping with this trend by treating its customers to a nice big saving on the AT&T-attached Dell Streak, offering it up for a mere $100 in upfront costs. The typical two-year commitment will be required from you, but that might just be worth it for this 5-inch Android slate, particularly if you load it up with the latest firmware. Pricing is the same for both the black and white versions, so if you're keen to swap a small bulge in your wallet for a large protruding tabletphone in your pocket, you know where to look.
Buy this phone, won't you please buy this phone? We've no idea why Telus has to try so hard to convince Canadian buyers to grab themselves a Windows Phone 7 handset, but the carrier's expected to sweeten the deal dramatically over the next few days by bundling a freebie Xbox 360 with every WP7 device activation or renewal. The offer starts today, according to this leaked memo, and will last through to the end of the week, December 19th. Telus carries the HTC 7 Surround and LG Optimus 7, neither of which would seem to have caught fire quite the way Microsoft would have wanted. Ah well, if you're going to sell your wireless soul for a whole three years, you might as well do it for a phone-plus-console combo.
Remember the Misa Digital Guitar? Well, it's called the Kitara now, it's taken on a fresh lick of paint, and it's ready to be pre-ordered now for an April delivery. The Kitara discards old fashioned strings and has you strumming along on a multitouch display instead, populating the fretboard with a litany of buttons that modify the aural output from your digital input. It has an onboard synthesizer, but the real magic will happen once you plug it into your own audio equipment and start experimenting. Basically, it's like the Kinect of electronic music -- just needs a few inventive souls to harness its potential properly. They'll need fat wallets too, mind you, as turning this invention into a viable product has meant a lofty $849 starting price in the US. See a video demo and the full Kitara press release after the break.
Kitara is the guitar, reinvented. It's 100% digital, giving guitarists a brave new world of electronic sound and expression - on stage and in the studio. With an onboard polyphonic synthesizer and multi-touch screen, Kitara allows guitarists to fully express their musical vision, creating electronic music that pushes the limits of what's possible.
Typical Kitara owners will include studio musicians, DJs, electronic musicians, ambient musicians, traditional guitar players and aspiring musicians looking for a truly unique experience to create, explore and share.
Pricing: Kitara will be sold in the US at a suggested retail price of $849 with Kitara Special Edition selling for $2,899.
Features/functionality of Kitara and Kitara Special Edition Kitara and Kitara Special Edition include an innovative multifunction touchscreen, MIDI controls and an on-board polyphonic synthesizer with effects. Meticulously designed and crafted for musicians by musicians, Kitara and Kitara Special Edition allow players to explore and create limitless sound possibilities.
Why Kitara Digital keyboards and drums have long given players the ability to explore new musical worlds. Digital guitars have been the missing piece of the puzzle. That's because the nature of guitars makes it difficult to create and control electronic sounds. Michael Zarimis, a passionate engineer and musician from Sydney, Australia, designed the Kitara break through these traditional constraints, allowing guitarists to join the digital world.
Three. It's a magical number, you know? Hitachi GST sure feels that way, and the company is today introducing a trio of three terabyte storage solutions. First up is the 3TB Deskstar internal HDD kit, which apparently shatters the 2.2TB capacity limit on 32-bit Windows XP systems without any extra hardware required. For those who've graduated to more modern systems, there's the new 3TB Hitachi XL USB 2.0, an external archive solution designed to be sat horizontally or vertically and operate with both PC and Mac platforms. Lastly, the company is finally shipping the 7K3000 and 5K3000 internal hard drives to OEMs and channel partners, but the 3TB version of the latter won't hit until next quarter. As for pricing? All's quiet on the western front... save for that XL, anyway -- that one's going for $249.99 (3TB), $169.99 (2TB) and $99.99 (1TB).
Show full PR text
Hitachi GST Launches a Trio of Three Terabytes (3TB)
* New 3TB Hitachi Deskstar™ Internal Hard Drive Kit Breaks the 2.2TB Capacity Limit on 32- bit Windows® XP systems – No Extra Hardware Required.
* New 3TB Hitachi XL™ USB 2.0 Drive Delivers Reliable, High Quality External Storage and Backup with an Award-Winning Design.
* New 3TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 and 5K3000 hard drive families now shipping to OEMs and the Channel for System Builders and Value Added Resellers.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today unveiled a new line up of 3TB storage solutions for a broad range of users from consumers to OEMs. Given the company's global strength, and the continued support of its retail and channel partners, Hitachi GST is well positioned to move the industry forward in leveraging high-capacity 3TB drives across a variety of segments, all while using one of the world's most reliable hard drive platforms with proven quality and performance.
"Our 3TB offerings are a perfect addition to our family as it supports our strong following of channel partners, creative professionals and end users who require reliable, high-performance, high-capacity storage."
Hitachi Deskstar Internal Hard Drive Kits
Just in time for holiday shoppers, a Hitachi Deskstar Internal Hard Drive Kit is a perfect gift for that special someone who wants to add more capacity and speed to their desktop computer for high-intensity multimedia applications like games and video. The new 3TB, 7,200 RPM Kit¹ includes a high-performance Deskstar 7K3000 hard drive, mounting screws, step-by-step instructions, and a software download that allows 32- and 64-bit Microsoft® Windows®, Apple® OS X and Linux® systems to tap into the full capacity and power of the 3TB drive, as one big massive data drive, without having to install extra hardware. Consumers who have 32- or 64-bit Apple Mac OS X or Linux systems can enjoy the drive as a data drive or a boot drive right out of the box - no software download is required. Due to the 2.2TB limit on certain systems, Windows Vista™ and Windows 7™ users should consult Hitachi's 2.2TB web site (http://www.hitachigst.com/internal-drives/above-2tb/) for system compatibility guidelines to use the drive as a boot drive.
The new Hitachi Internal Hard Drive Kit comes in capacities of 3TB and 2TB, making them ideal for storing massive amounts of digital content. All drives ship with a 64MB buffer and a 6Gb/s SATA interface, providing quick access to data.
The 3TB Hitachi Deskstar Internal Hard Drive Kit is shipping this week to online and retail stores with a MSRP of $249.99.
Hitachi XL Desktop External Hard Drives
Backed by Hitachi GST's reputation for quality and reliability, the Hitachi XL Desktop External Drive offers users a simple and reliable way to store and protect life's most important digital content. With up to 3TB capacity and USB 2.0 connectivity, the Hitachi XL Desktop Drive gives both Mac and PC users enough capacity to store or backup their growing music libraries, digital photos and movie collections. Placed vertically or horizontally, the drive fits perfectly into any home or office environment. Wrapped in a smooth black finish, the Hitachi XL Desktop Drive comes in capacities of 3TB, 2TB and 1TB.
The Hitachi XL Desktop External Drives are now available. MSRPs are $249.99 for 3TB, $169.99 for 2TB and $99.99 for 1TB.
Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 and 5K3000 Hard Drives for OEMs and Channel Partners
Today, Hitachi GST also announced that it is shipping its new 3TB, 2TB and 1.5TB Deskstar 7K3000 drive family to OEMs and select distribution partners around the world. Based on Hitachi GST's proven design, the new Deskstar 7K3000 drive delivers an exceptional blend of reliability, capacity, performance and power efficiency for video RAID arrays, home or business PCs, high-performance workstations and gaming systems.
All Deskstar 7K3000 drives deliver excellent power efficiency and reduced thermal emissions. The Deskstar 7K3000 drive is also one of the fastest and most energy-efficient 7,200 RPM drives on the market. When compared to previous generation Deskstar drives, the 7K3000 PCMark® Vantage® test scores show up to a 27 percent performance improvement, and an idle power savings of up at least nine percent.
Catering to the power-conscious system builder or OEM, the new Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 family of drives delivers low power and quieter operation for environmentally-friendly computers. In capacities of 3TB, 2TB and 1.5TB with a 32MB buffer, these drives combine Hitachi's innovative Coolspin™ Technology to create a new class of performance-optimized, energy-efficient drives that run cooler and require less power. They deliver up to 29 percent lower power and 14 percent quieter acoustics than the Deskstar 7K3000.
"In a world of technology, there's one common thread among all of us – storage. It's ubiquitous, and is growing rapidly as we continue to purchase, create, download and save content daily. With our new 3TB solutions, we're delivering huge capacity to a broad base of users to help them meet today's - and tomorrow's - data storage needs," said Mike Williams, vice president and general manager of Hitachi Branded Business. "Our 3TB offerings are a perfect addition to our family as it supports our strong following of channel partners, creative professionals and end users who require reliable, high-performance, high-capacity storage."
The Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 family of hard drives has been shipping to OEMs and select distributors worldwide since November 2010. The 1.5TB and 2TB Deskstar 5K3000 drives with Coolspin technology will ship in December; the 3TB Deskstar 5K3000 will ship next quarter.
So what if Google knows and remembers all our data, at least it's turning that stuff into something useful. The latest enhancement to its Gmail client is a neat Contacts restoration option, which can rewind you back to a maximum of 30 days ago, offering a chance to recover rashly deleted email addresses or to remedy an ill-advised sync with any of your other contact-keeping services. As is par for the course with Gmail, it's a neat and seemingly minor improvement that'll probably keep users from leaving it for greener pastures over the long term as they grow accustomed to its security. Just how Google likes it.
Hey Mac home theater users, listen up -- your AirPlay wishes have come true. TUAW's very own Erica Sadun has developed a free (ad supported) 0.01 AirPlayer alpha hack that lets your Mac play host to AirPlay video streamed off of iOS devices. Right, just like an Apple TV and without requiring a Jailbreak. But as long as you're skirting official support anyway, why not install the free AirVideoEnabler app onto your jailbroken iPod touch, iPad, or iPhone to stream video from even more applications than Apple currently allows. Works for us. Everyone else can check the video after the break.
Eager to be freaked right on out? If so, head past the break and mash play. There, you'll see a recent demonstration by Tohto C-Tech, where a 3D camera setup was used to capture a person's face and then reproduce it on a monitor (in 3D, no less) in real-time. We're told that an undisclosed GPGPU setup was used to pull it off, as typical CPUs just weren't quick enough to render the final product on their own. The camera setup actually captures the face from two different viewpoints, enabling the sides of the face to be shown in addition to the front. We warned you that copious amounts of freaky were involved.
Even the most loyal Android user is bound to kvetch about the stock keyboard at some point or another, and while Swype has definitely grabbed the hearts of a good many Froyo users, Swiftkey remains our third-party keyboard of choice. After escaping beta just a few months ago, TouchType has just outed an 'HD' build that's designed to cope with many of the higher-resolution displays being used on today's gargantuan Android phones. Moreover, we're guessing that this was done to look a bit better on devices like the Galaxy Tab, and there's no denying that the new design elements are a real step forward. Aside from the makeover, the app is also gaining five new languages (Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Danish, Norwegian and Polish), improved language prediction quality and a new US layout that nixes accented characters. For those who've yet to try it, the latest version can be tested for a full 31 days, after which you'll be coerced into ponying up $3.99 for the real-deal. Hit the source links below (or the QR code shown here) to give it a go.
Show full PR text
SwiftKey launches HD skin, five new languages and a longer free trial
New HD skin that looks sharp on big-screen phones
Introducing five new languages, Scandinavian layouts
Free trial period doubled for the holidays, to a month
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SwiftKey™, the intelligent text prediction app for Google Android™ smartphones, received a significant update Wednesday that adds a new HD skin, UI improvements and five new languages.
The award-winning app, officially released less than three months ago and with over a half a million downloads to date, now has a refreshed HD skin that is optimized for screens of any size, its developers TouchType said.
TouchType's CEO Jon Reynolds said: "We've worked closely with UI experts to create a stunning high
definition skin for SwiftKey, and from the feedback we've already received, people are loving it.
SwiftKey brings an innovative solution to the problem of typing accurately on a smartphone, relying on powerful language technology to infer both the word a user is typing, and their likely next word. Using these techniques, SwiftKey users can skip whole words as they write, saving key-presses
TouchType said they were pleased to reveal a range of festive treats for SwiftKey users. For those who write in US English,
Wednesday's release improves language prediction quality and adds a keyboard layout without accented characters. For international users, the app now supports Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Danish, Norwegian and Polish, and has support for Scandinavian keyboard layouts.
"This new version of SwiftKey is just what our most passionate users have been waiting for," said TouchType's CTO, Dr Ben Medlock.
"We've listened to our users and delivered some fundamental improvements in time for Christmas.
We've also got some incredible new features in the pipeline, so users should join our VIP community to get early access to the exciting things ahead."
The new release comes just after TouchType won a prestigious Mobile Marketing Magazine award for SwiftKey's 2010 launch. "SwiftKey is, quite simply, one of the most innovative and useful apps we have ever seen," the judges commented, adding: "Genius – there's no other word for it."
SwiftKey is available on the Google Android platform as an unlimited, paid app for $3.99 and a free trial app, offering predictions for 31 days.
Readers can apply to join SwiftKey's VIP community at http://swiftkey.net/vip.
Current SwiftKey users should update their language modules to experience quality improvements via the app's settings menu.
See SwiftKey in action on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6poOrKoEf8
SwiftKey Version 1.1.74 Change Log: - New HD skin with sharper graphics and font - 14 languages now supported: - New keyboard layouts: QWERTY English (no accented characters on long-press) QWERTY International (accented characters on long-press) (AZERTY, QZERTY and QWERTZ also supported) - New suggestions ribbon added in landscape mode for menu options (e.g. contact lookup in Gmail) - Trial now lasts 31 days - Various bug fixes, including: Null Pointer Exception in resetTempLanguageModel Fixed candidates disappearing with hard keyboard after sending a message Added ç/Ç to AZERTY layout Support for hard keyboard microphone key on Motorola Droid Fix crash in QuickOffice
It's taken AMD a long time to refresh the top end of its graphics hardware, but today's culmination to that wait has to be described as somewhat bittersweet. Sweet, because we're finally getting a successor to the venerable HD 5870, one that offers improved power management and tessellation performance at a lower $369 price point, but also bitter because in terms of sheer firepower, the Radeon series doesn't seem to have made quite the leap many of us had hoped for. The new top of AMD's single-GPU pile, the HD 6970, offers 1,536 stream processors, an 880MHz core clock speed, and 2GB of GDDR5 RAM running at 5.5GHz for a total of 176GBps of memory bandwidth. Its partner in crime, the HD 6950, is expected to list at $299, for which saving you'll have to sacrifice some clock speed (down to 800MHz) and processing units (1,408 in total). There's a neat little addition to both new boards: a Dual-BIOS switch that will act like Google's hardware jailbreak toggle on the Cr-48, allowing tweakers to unlock the extra (unprotected by warranty!) performance headroom in their cards.
Early reviews all seem to agree that both the Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950 have struck a very fine price-to-performance ratio. The 6970 manages to spar with the much pricier GTX 580, but given that it's priced similarly to NVIDIA's GTX 570, it scores plaudits for being a more than viable alternative. The HD 6950 is seen as the real value item here, however, particularly since it occupies a relatively unique spot in the price range, and most reviewers tipped it as their new bang-for-the-buck leader.
AMD Launches Its Most Advanced Enthusiast GPU Ever, AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 Series Graphics
- Enhanced second-generation architecture supporting DirectX® 11, new image quality features, AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology and up to 2GB of graphics memory for high-resolution gaming -
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Dec. 15, 2010 - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today introduced AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics, its most advanced enthusiast GPU representing the intelligent choice for enthusiast gamers. The AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series of graphics cards provides gamers with an enhanced second-generation, Microsoft DirectX® 11-capable architecture for breakthrough performance, advanced image quality features for the best looking games, and innovative AMD PowerTune power management technology that dynamically adjusts power draw on the fly. With flexible and cost-effective AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology and AMD HD3D technology for 3D entertainment, the new AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 and AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 graphics cards offer The Ultimate Visual Experience™. Graphics cards in the AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series are available immediately from retailers worldwide, with select models starting at $299 US SEP.
"AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics feature AMD's second-generation, DirectX® 11-capable architecture, new image quality improvements and up to 2GB of graphics frame buffer, making it a great choice for gamers and enthusiasts," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, GPU Division, AMD. "Delivering DirectX® 11 performance with intelligent tessellation, image quality improvements with new anti-aliasing modes and AMD PowerTune technology, we believe AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics cards will make excellent gifts this holiday season."
Efficient Architecture for Leading DirectX® 11 Performance · Improved architecture for greater performance: With AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics, AMD has further enhanced its GPU design efficiency, realizing a 10 percent improvement in performance/mm2.[1] AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics provide an extremely smooth and efficient computing experience, enabling gamers to realize unparalleled image quality.
· New AMD PowerTune technology: Designed with intelligent power tuning features, including the introduction of enhanced power containment, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series automatically adjusts GPU power draw by dynamically controlling clock speeds, allowing gamers advanced performance inside of the power envelope they specify.[2]
· The time to upgrade is now: Gamers looking to move to a DirectX® 11-capable GPU will find there has never been a better time to upgrade, with the AMD Radeon™ HD 6970 offering up to 2.5 times the gaming performance of 2008's similarly priced high-end graphics solution.[3]
· Intelligent tessellation: The AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series of graphics cards features dual 8th generation tessellation units, delivering up to 2.9x tessellation performance compared to ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 graphics.[4]
· Increased memory for higher image quality: With 2GB of video memory serving as the new standard for graphics card frame buffers, gamers can enjoy superior quality graphics without needing to increase the memory footprint, even at extreme resolutions.
The Ultimate Visual Experience™: As AMD's most advanced DirectX® 11-capable GPU, AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics offer a single high-performance solution for a realistic visual experience. DirectX®11 has quickly become the new standard for PC games and the majority of game developers chose to develop their DirectX® 11 games on AMD Radeon™ graphics cards. In addition to DirectX® 11 games, the AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series also enables an exceptional game play experience in DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, DirectX® 10.1 and OpenGL titles in single card or multi-card AMD CrossFireX™ configurations.[5]
An Advanced Gaming Experience with AMD Eyefinity Technology and Advanced Display Options · Improved image quality: Enhanced anti-aliasing features enable dramatically improved image quality and enhanced visual quality features for intensely realistic looking games. New features include Enhanced Quality Anti-Aliasing (EQAA), which uses a new sampling technique to help improve visual quality, Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA), compatible with any DirectX® 9, DirectX® 10, or DirectX® 11 application, and improved anisotropic filtering.
Simple, flexible, affordable multi-display computing with AMD Eyefinity technology: Providing an expanded and more immersive field of view, AMD Eyefinity technology continues to be the most affordable multi-display solution available, offering incredible choice in display compatibility and configurations.[6] More than 60 game titles have been AMD Eyefinity-validated or are AMD Eyefinity-ready titles, and hundreds more are AMD Eyefinity-compatible. Continued industry leadership in multi-display computing: The AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series of graphics cards offer support for both DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a, offering enthusiasts incredible multi-monitor configuration options, flexibility in display selection, and new DisplayPort audio features. 3D entertainment choices with AMD HD3D technology: AMD continues to deliver a broad and affordable selection of 3D solutions with AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics cards, featuring AMD HD3D technology, backed by our open 3D initiative for stereo 3D gaming and movies.[7]
Accelerate Your Life with AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology lets you do more, faster: Enthusiasts will enjoy improved performance and new features in top media, entertainment and productivity applications with AMD APP technology.[8] Enhanced video quality features: AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics cards feature Unified Video Decoder 3 (UVD3), a dedicated video playback accelerator that helps users get the most out of HD video, online video and Blu-ray™ 3D, while enjoying a range of video quality improvements such as advanced post-processing and scaling, dynamic contrast enhancement, color correction and more. Extensive support of industry standards: AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 series graphics cards fully support DirectCompute and OpenCL™, ensuring broad application support today and tomorrow.
OK, we didn't see this one coming: iGrill is a Bluetooth-enabled meat thermometer. That's right, this bad boy not only displays the temp of whatever you sink the probe into, it also takes that info and transmits it to your iOS device for remote monitoring. Hell, the app itself even features a kitchen timer, alerts for whatever temp you set it to, and more. Because really, you do everything else with your smartphone, so why not use it to free yourself from the tyranny of the kitchen once and for all? Oh, that's right -- because this thing costs $100. See for yourself by hitting up the source link.
Google Voice Actions was the first step towards our Star Trek dreams of lassoing the world with naught but vocal cords, and today Google's taken a second hop towards that inevitable future by letting Android devices record our every utterance. Yes, if you've got a handset running Froyo or better, you can download an update for Google Voice Search right now, which will let your phone dynamically personalize its speech-to-text engine to better recognize your voice most every time you use it. Of course, by so doing you're giving Google permission to record your sentences -- anonymously, of course -- to use in future products, but whether that's a problem or just a happy coincidence depends on whether you take Google at its word. We hit the "yes" button, in case you're curious. Find it on Android Market, or just use the handy-dandy QR code below.
Two months from introduction to shipping? Not bad, Pioneer... not bad at all. The world's first BDXL PC writer is now on sale at your local Fry's Electronics, bringing support for toasting 128GB quad-layer discs (if you can find / afford 'em) as well as speedy writing on typical BD-R, DVD-R and CD-R discs. Pioneer's also throwing in a CyberLink software suite, and if you buy in early, you'll get a single piece of 100GB BR-R XL media for free. Makes that $199 asking price seem entirely more attractive, doesn't it? In other news, the first Blu-ray format still isn't supported by Apple, not even on a $10,000 Mac Pro. Spectacular.
Show full PR text
Pioneer Ships First BDXL Computer Drive to Read and Write New Blu-ray Disc Recording Format
LONG BEACH, Calif.–Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. continues its innovation in the optical disc drive category with today's announcement of its new professional, high definition BDXL internal Blu-ray Disc drive. The Pioneer BDR-206MBK, BDXL writer for Windows based1 personal computers, is the first drive to read and write using the new multi-layer recordable Blu-ray Disc format. BDXL more than doubles the current maximum Blu-ray Disc storage capacity and is ideal for various commercial uses such as video and broadcast archiving and storage, capturing and playback of high definition programming or data archiving needs. The BDR-206MBK also enhances recording accuracy and further limits artificial noise for quality playback.
By integrating additional layers to traditional Blu-ray Discs, BDXL offers up to 128 GB of storage capacity on a quadruple layer disc. The BDR-206MBK drive allows users to read/write BD-R XL and BD-RE XL triple layer (100GB) and BD-R XL quadruple layer (128GB) discs. Additionally, the drive can play back and record on virtually all disc formats including CD, DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. The drive comes bundled with CyberLink software to support BDXL and is ready for use out of the box. For a limited time, Pioneer is including a piece of BD-R XL 100GB media for free with each drive.
Further enhancing the user experience, Pioneer has incorporated proprietary technologies to significantly improve recording and playback quality. Its Limit Equalizer technology improves RF signals generated when reading data from Blu-ray Discs and enables improved playback capability. Along with a new, airtight structure that helps keep the drive quiet and protects against contaminants and dust particles, the Disc Vibration Stabilizer feature helps protect the disc from warping during the writing process, resulting in a higher quality written disc.
The BDR-206MBK is currently available for a suggested retail price of $199. The BDXL drive can be purchased at Fry's Electronics and at www.pioneerelectronics.com.
About Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. Pioneer has been an innovator of optical disc technology since it shipped its first LaserDisc products, the precursor to DVD, to the consumer market in 1980. Pioneer went on to introduce the first DVD writer for video authoring use in 1997, the first DVD recorder as a VCR replacement in 1999, the first DVD-R/CD writer for home computer users in 2001 and the first Blu-ray Disc writer in 2006. Pioneer Corporation is one of the original Blu-ray Disc Founders. More details can be found at www.pioneerelectronics.com.
1 For playback of 3D video, additional equipment, such as a 3D capable monitor that supports Windows7 3D, is necessary.
How are you killing the time until the Nexus S finally goes on sale? Google's answer to that question has been a typically outlandish affair, involving seven Nexi, a collection of weather balloons, and another quest to see how much can be learned from a humble smartphone's sensors when they're shot to the edge of space. Yes, the Mountain View madmen fired a week's worth of their latest and greatest smartphones through the Earth's atmosphere, hoping to test both the durability and the information-gathering skills of the onboard compass, gyro, and accelerometer, while dedicated GPS modules were installed in each "shuttle" (made out of styrofoam beer coolers, if you can believe it) to help recover the cargo on its return to terra firma. So far, only six of the phones have been recovered -- might this be another of Google's crazy puzzles? A treasure hunt for an Android fallen from heaven? Video after the break.
It may not be available at your favorite e-tailer quite yet, but Microsoft's Arc Touch Mouse is indeed on sale at the company's seven retail stores, each of which got a shipment of the flexible critters this morning. (How do we know? We just called every one.) What's more, they'll only cost you $60 apiece, a full portrait of Alexander Hamilton less than the original batch of preorders, so if you're looking for a thoroughly unique rodent partner that bows to your will, now might be the best chance to nab one.
Believe it or not, this isn't the first time that Daito Manabe has used some electrical stimulation in a face-twisting musical experiment, but he's taken things one big step further with his latest project. As before, this rig creates wild facial twitches controlled by music (not the other way around), but it also includes a second set of sensors that allows another person to tap on a virtual drum kit and send the (hopefully) willing subject's face into a fit of synchronization. All of which is, of course, better seen than explained -- check it out in action after the break.
This isn't exactly a new allegation, but the idea's spreading fast: Google is tuning search results to favor itself, and perhaps that's not entirely fair. Though the European Union is already investigating Google for potential antitrust violations, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal cites several US businesses that aren't too happy themselves, claiming that Google Places, Product Search and the like took a big chomp out of their traffic. Google's defense, as usual, rests on its secret algorithms, which it claims aren't rigged in any way, adding that the prominent placement of location- and product-based search results are just a way to get users quicker answers to their queries. If you type in "day spa nyc," you're looking for some catered suggestions, right? And what of those who argue differently?Well, obviously they're in league with Microsoft.
Earlier this year, DARPA put out RFIs with an eye on developing military apps and an app store for iOS and Android, and now the US Army's Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications (CSDA) program will put handsets, network equipment, and other equipment including tablets, e-readers, and pico projectors into the hands of the First Army Brigade this February. Additionally, the Army plans to start issuing Common Access Card (the ID cards used to log on to DoD computers and networks) readers for the iPhone in January and for Android in April. According to Rickey Smith of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, "We're not wedded to a specific piece of hardware. We are open to using Palm Trios, the Android, iPhone or whatever else is out there." But we must admit -- we are encouraged that this time around you haven't mentioned Celio's REDFLY.
So this is how it was supposed to go: Best Buy would start selling the Nexus S in the States on December 16th, and Carphone Warehouse would follow on a few days later -- the 20th, to be exact -- in the UK. Looks like the British are going rogue here, though, because Samsung's Gingerbread-packed slate is showing "in stock" on Carphone Warehouse's site right this very moment, which should theoretically mean it ships the same day if you order it before 5PM local time. Let us know if you get it in your paws before the 20th, alright?
Thought the alphabet soup of modern wireless standards was confusing enough? 1X Advanced / EV-DO Advanced, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-carrier HSPA+, EDGE Evolution, LTE, LTE-Advanced, WiMAX, WiMAX 2... we could keep going, but we'd really rather not. Oh, but we have to, because this one could get really interesting: Nokia Siemens is touting that the specifications for Long Term HSPA Evolution have just been submitted to the 3GPP, promising theoretical speeds in excess of 650Mbps -- a number that still falls shy of the ITU's definition of a 4G standard, but easily eclipses just about anything shy of LTE-Advanced or WiMAX 2. 
Regional carrier MetroPCS is ticking three more checkboxes today as it keeps pushing its ongoing LTE network rollout, and they're big ones: on top of Sacramento, they've added Boston and none other than New York City. That makes the carrier second to launch LTE in the Big Apple -- Verizon's already there -- but you can't take away from the fact that MetroPCS beat the big guys with their first live commercial markets by several months. As for hardware, it's the same as usual: the Samsung Craft dumbphone is your only option, which means that if you're looking to blaze on your notebook with a next-gen USB stick, you're still going to have to head to Verizon anyway. Follow the break for the full press release. 
See, sometimes dreams do come true. Just days after we asked how you'd tweak the second generation Apple TV, in flies an update that a good many TV owners have been anxiously awaiting. The 4.1.1 update purportedly solves "an issue that causes some high-definition TVs to incorrectly display at 480p," as well as an issue that "may cause a movie or TV show to be re-downloaded." It's pretty obvious that Apple's aiming to correct a nagging color / banding problem that has been plaguing some owners since day one, but according to users over at Apple Insider's forums, it's not a cure-all solution. A handful of members have stated that their sets -- typically using an HDMI-to-DVI adapter -- still display incorrect colors after the update. Flip on your own box and get the download started, and let us know if it's the fix you've been after down in comments below.
Three. It's a magical number, you know? Hitachi GST sure feels that way, and the company is today introducing a trio of three terabyte storage solutions. First up is the 3TB Deskstar internal HDD kit, which apparently shatters the 2.2TB capacity limit on 32-bit Windows XP systems without any extra hardware required. For those who've graduated to more modern systems, there's the new 3TB Hitachi XL USB 2.0, an external archive solution designed to be sat horizontally or vertically and operate with both PC and Mac platforms. Lastly, the company is finally shipping the 7K3000 and 5K3000 internal hard drives to OEMs and channel partners, but the 3TB version of the latter won't hit until next quarter. As for pricing? All's quiet on the western front... save for that XL, anyway -- that one's going for $249.99 (3TB), $169.99 (2TB) and $99.99 (1TB). 
Even the most loyal Android user is bound to kvetch about the stock keyboard at some point or another, and while Swype has definitely grabbed the hearts of a good many Froyo users, Swiftkey remains our third-party keyboard of choice. After escaping beta just a few months ago, TouchType has just outed an 'HD' build that's designed to cope with many of the higher-resolution displays being used on today's gargantuan Android phones. Moreover, we're guessing that this was done to look a bit better on devices like the Galaxy Tab, and there's no denying that the new design elements are a real step forward. Aside from the makeover, the app is also gaining five new languages (Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Danish, Norwegian and Polish), improved language prediction quality and a new US layout that nixes accented characters. For those who've yet to try it, the latest version can be tested for a full 31 days, after which you'll be coerced into ponying up $3.99 for the real-deal. Hit the source links below (or the QR code shown here) to give it a go. 
No comments:
Post a Comment