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- Sony VAIO VCC111 Chromebook passes through FCC, Chrome OS flies its flag
- Toshiba AT200 review
- Digital gaming soars nine percent, still knows nothing of rarity value
- TiVo Premiere 500GB coming Sunday along with lower prices for service, XL and Elite DVRs
- Nokia goes bullet time on snowboarders, the '90s wants its culture back (video)
- Engadget Primed: Camera metering explained
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| Sony VAIO VCC111 Chromebook passes through FCC, Chrome OS flies its flag Posted: 23 Mar 2012 11:41 AM PDT  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 23 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT
This waif of a tablet certainly took its sweet time getting here. We first laid eyes on this lightweight beauty last August and while it still hasn't landed in the US just yet (under the guise of the Excite 10 LE) we've brought in the international version -- already in stores in the UK -- to test out the hardware, which appears to be identical. On first appearances, it's an attractive sliver of a slab, due to the magnesium alloy body, of which there isn't much. Measuring in at just 7.7mm thick, we're talking RAZR-scale thinness and a 1.18 pound weigh-in that embarrasses 7-inch devices. Despite this, we still have a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP processor, running Honeycomb 3.2 on a 10.1 inch touchscreen. But surely, sacrifices must have been made, right? Well, it looks like it's a financial cost that has to be paid. The 16GB version is currently on sale for £399, matching the new iPad in the UK, and likely to arrive in the US at around $530, pricing itself quite a bit above existing, similarly-specced, Android favorites like the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Are you willing to pay a fair chunk of change extra to skim a few millimeters off your tablet profile? Is it worth it? The full story is right after the break. Hardware Toshiba's new Honeycomb tablet seems completely at odds with company's 2011 family. As lame and plain as the Thrive family seemed, the AT200 is cool and sharp in equal but opposite measure. Weighing in at 535 grams, as 10.1-inch tablets go, it's the most comfortable we've found for one-handed use. Augmented by that wee profile, you can just about type in vertical orientation. While it feels incredibly light, it remains solid, with barely any give, presumably due to the metallic backing. However, the build quality is flawed. The outer rim along the back side of the tablet has a nasty sharp edge -- we ended up gingerly handling the thing as it walked a fine line between skin-cutting sharpness and discomfort. The magnesium alloy frame excuses minor scuffs, although our review model -- presumably mint -- arrived with some significant grazes. We're not sure if it was a struggle to cram the mid-range tablet specification into such a featherweight frame, but it's almost like it's bursting at the sides; the top edge has an odd little hole that looks like it should be hidden under the Gorilla Glass-coated screen. It's as if the tablet needed a little more tightening or a re-press to ensure everything was in the right place before it left the factory.  The sides of the tablet have a metallic piping that both helps make the tablet less anonymous but also help gain purchase when it's lying on a flat surface. This is interrupted on the right side by a power switch, volume rocker and customizable switch that can mute the tablet or lock the screen orientation. Some other options, like a WiFi switch, or possibly a power-saver mode would have been nice, but at least there's an option. Connectivity-wise, there's a hulking power connector on the bottom edge, which satisfyingly connects to the similarly chunky power cord, while the microUSB HDMI output, headphone ports and microSD slot are lined up on the left side. It's nice to see some easy-to--access ports here and while the tablet will be available in 16 and 32GB sizes, microSD expansion means there should be more than enough space for anyone looking for a tablet with a media-playing focus. This is augmented by stereo speakers on each side of the power connector -- stereo sound remains a feature that doesn't make it to even the very latest top-drawer tablets. Located just off the left and right corners, we never seemed to cover them up when we held the tablet. As they're on the edge, sound isn't even muffled if you rest the device on a surface. Sound is just about loud enough, if a little light on the bass, although a third-party equalizer app can fix this. The AT200 has a 1280 x 800 resolution display that matches the likes of the Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Iconia Tab A200. It's an IPS display which means off-angle viewing shouldn't trouble the AT200 -- and it largely doesn't. However, whatever technology Toshiba is using for the touchscreen has left a visible tattoo across the 10.1-inch display. It's especially pronounced when we were in strong lighting or on dark backgrounds. Cameras While tablets certainly don't live and die by their camera performance, it's always nice to have an extra option -- and the opportunity for a video chat. There's a primary 5-megapixel camera on the rear, while a front-facing 2-megapixel camera gives better self-portraits than the standard VGA modules we're used to. The main camera offers pretty typical tablet camera results -- that is, noisy stills that often lacked the color of their real world counterparts. The camera app is cheerfully stock Honeycomb, meaning it was easy to get to the settings we wanted to change, but a lack of touch-to-focus let it down during our tests. The camera is also capable of up to 1080p video, which was generally sharp and while colors and light adjustment is pretty good, it's another tablet lacking when it comes to autofocus. Performance and battery lifeWhile Toshiba promises 12 hours of use, we weren't able to eke out such heady figures. In our battery rundown, looped video, at 50 percent brightness with WiFi on, the tablet scraped in at just under six and a half hours. More typical use didn't inspire much confidence either. We found ourselves regularly plugging in for a top-up later in the day. Perhaps in slimming down to this 0.3 inch frame, the device has generated some power management inefficiencies, or more simply; the battery is simply too small.
On paper, the tablet flits between beating and getting beaten by rival models. However, this doesn't tell the full story -- the dual-core tablet seemed heavily taxed when we used the camera app, more intensive gaming apps and media playback. While browser performance was respectable, there was often tiling on the web browser and attempting to stream media would often kick us out to the home screen or take a fair bit of time getting to the point where we could watch it.
Software The user experience is responsive, although as mentioned in the performance section, throw in something a little more complicated than lightweight apps and email and you begin to see the cracks -- typically longer load times and repeated kicks back to the home screen, There's also some larger problems circulating inside this troubled tablet. Trying to get our sample videos and photos out from the AT200 proved to be very difficult, with files seemingly corrupting irrespective of whether we shared through Dropbox or uploaded to our own Google Plus account. We were unable to detect the tablet connecting through the microUSB port. On the software side, Android's dedicated tablet apps are not exactly bursting out of Google Play and the average quality remain noticeably lower than its Cupertino equivalent. Wrap-up | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Digital gaming soars nine percent, still knows nothing of rarity value Posted: 23 Mar 2012 10:36 AM PDT  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TiVo Premiere 500GB coming Sunday along with lower prices for service, XL and Elite DVRs Posted: 23 Mar 2012 10:15 AM PDT  TiVo Offers New 500 GB TiVo Premiere Expanded TiVo Premiere Model with Upgraded Memory Records up to 75 Hours of HD Entertainment Accompanies New Monthly Service Pricing for All TiVo Premiere DVR Models ALVISO, Calif. (March 25, 2012) – TiVo Inc., the creator of and a leader in advanced television services including digital video recorders (DVRs), announced the launch of its new entry-level TiVo Premiere DVR which records up to 75 hours of HD content giving customers 65% more recording space than its previous version. Beginning Sunday, March 25, the upgraded memory version of TiVo Premiere is available for purchase on tivo.com or from your local Best Buy store. With the introduction of this expanded model, TiVo has updated its pricing structure across all TiVo products giving customers easier access to even higher recording capabilities. The TiVo Premiere product line is the following: TiVo Premiere $149.99: Records two shows at once and up to 75 hours of HD content TiVo Premiere XL $249.99 (reduced $50): Records two shows at once and up to 150 hours of HD content TiVo Premiere Elite $399.99 (reduced $100): Records four shows at once and up to 300 hours of HD content "We now live in a world where HD entertainment is the standard and there is more demand than ever to provide customers with additional recording space," said Doug Bieter, Vice President of Retail Sales for TiVo, Inc. "By enhancing the TiVo Premiere, we've also responded to customers' requests for upgraded memory and introduced a new TiVo monthly service fee structure that is highly competitive with most cable DVR pricing. It is now easier than ever to get the greatest at-home entertainment experience available on the market today." TiVo has introduced new monthly pricing for all TiVo Premiere DVRs: The TiVo monthly service fee is now $14.99 per month, with a one-year commitment, making it lower on a monthly basis than most cable offerings Multi-service discount pricing is now $12.99 per month For customers wanting to pay once for the lifetime of the DVR, product lifetime service is still available for $499.99 and at a discounted price of $399.99 for customers with multiple TiVo DVRs. TiVo's award-winning user interface offers a unique combination of TV, web and on demand content, paired with top-of-the-line recording capabilities and the many great features users have grown to love. With TiVo Premiere, Premiere XL, and Premiere Elite, users have access to the world's largest on demand library from services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, Pandora and more. The 500 GB TiVo Premiere TiVo can be purchased nationwide at retail stores like Best Buy or directly from TiVo by calling 1-877-BUY-TIVO (1-877-289-8486) or visiting www.tivo.com. # # # * There will be no pricing change for non-Premiere legacy boxes; monthly service now costs $12.95/month ($9.95/month for multi-service discount pricing). Product Lifetime Service remains the same: $499.99 - $399.99 multi-service discount pricing for additional units. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nokia goes bullet time on snowboarders, the '90s wants its culture back (video) Posted: 23 Mar 2012 09:41 AM PDT Nokia's been an annual fixture at the Open Snowboarding Championships for a few years. While one gets sponsorship dollars, the other gleans a slice of snow sport cool. At this year's event, Nokia rigged up 18 Lumia 800s to capture the snowboarders' mid-air posturing, recording the video with a specially developed app. After a WiFi hook-up (and presumably a little bit of editing), the result was the montage you can see up top, made from around 100 different videos. But where's the iShred? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Engadget Primed: Camera metering explained Posted: 23 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.  Metering is not a subject you can easily master, let alone explain entirely in an article of this length, but we can give you an idea of how it all works. I consistently see the faces of my workshop students glaze over as I wax rhapsodic about the wonders of metering, but I also notice wry smiles from time to time, which shows me the wheels are turning -- they begin to realize all the things they can do if only they can conquer this aspect of photography. However, comprehension and applied mastery are two separate balls of wax. Putting what you learn to practice is the start, and you can improve over a number of months, but true metering control in any situation requires years of practice. So for our 2012 pre-apocalyptic installment of Primed, we'll break down the world of camera metering, giving you a bit of history, dissecting the main components, describing what your camera wants to do and telling you what the future may hold. By the end, you'll have a better understanding of this vital photographic topic... either that or you'll be in a nice deep sleep. Note: Check out our recent Primed articles on aperture and image sensors to add to your metering knowledge. |
The history of metering | Return to top |
Since its inception as early as the first century A.D. by Ibn al-Haytham, a Muslim Persian scientist born in southern Iraq in 965, the primary function of a camera was, and is, to collect and record light. Yet not until the early nineteenth century was a process created to make a photograph permanent. By the mid 1820s, a French man named Nicéphore Niépce (don't ask me how to pronounce his name) captured an eight-hour exposure -- View from the Window at Le Gras -- using a rudimentary yet remarkably innovative setup resembling a pinhole camera, with an asphalt-like substance coated on pewter (hardening when exposed to light), to process the image permanently. The world was visually changed from that moment on. (It should be noted there has been a recent dispute with a claim Thomas Wedgwood, an inventor who created a method to copy visible images chemically to permanent media, captured the first photo in the 1790s, while another states Niépce produced a photograph in 1822, an engraving of Pope Pius VII, using the heliographic process -- perhaps there can be a dance-off to settle the score.)
In the years to come, a number of chemical processes were invented and refined to create a permanent photograph through glass plates, film and photographic paper. From the 1820s up into the 1980s, metering really hadn't changed much. Even as the photographic medium progressed from the chemical process using silver halide (film), to the digital process with a charged-couple device (CCD), the sensitivity of the material used was still measured using the ISO rating. However, the way you metered changed, from photographic charts to handheld incident light meters, on to reflective meters built into the camera. (We'll address incident versus reflective meters later in this article.) Nevertheless, the basic equation of light + medium sensitivity = exposure, pretty much stuck from photography's inception. How much light you have (measured in exposure value, or EV) combined with the material's sensitivity to light (measured in the past using ASA or ISO rating, ISO being the main one used today), gives you an exposure (the total amount of light permitted to enter a camera and be received by the image sensor or film).
Back in the 1800s, when photographers coated their own plates -- in essence making their own film and prints in portable darkrooms -- exposures were too long to capture portraits, so the first subjects documented were still lifes, buildings and street scenes. Essentially working in low ISO numbers, processes such as daguerreotypes and calotypes were less sensitive to light, thus slow. The standard outdoor lens was the Achromat Landscape, featuring an f/16 non-adjustable aperture. With small apertures came longer capture times -- twenty to thirty minute outdoor exposures -- resulting in ghost images of people in various cityscapes (imagine the documentation of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake). As portraits became possible and popular, deadpan expressions and slightly blurred facial features were also evidence of these long exposures.
Then the wet collodion process broke through in 1851, and the increased sensitivity of the medium meant dramatically shortened exposure times. Soon after came lenses with adjustable f-stops, followed by more aperture control when it was discovered that aperture size affected depth of field. The invention of film roughly hit at the same time as the collodion process, in the form of glass plates coated with photographic emulsion. Then, in 1885, the first flexible photographic roll film was released by Eastman Kodak, offering increased light sensitivity which enabled shorter exposures. As the twentieth century took hold, the Zone System, a new systematic method of metering and exposing to maximize proper tones in any given scene, was perfected by Ansel Adams and Fred Archer, stretching the capabilities of photography. From the time Kodak sold its first roll in the 1880s, to the early 1990s, film quality continued to improve -- grain became tighter in higher ASAs or ISOs, color more accurate or vivid (depending on the brand and type of film chosen), and latitude covering higher contrast increased some -- yet the process of metering remained somewhat consistent, even if the models in the Kodak commercials made life look pretty darn special.
Why learn metering? | Return to top |
Creating high-quality images is a marriage of three facets: using photographic techniques, knowing your gear and having the artistic ability to react at a moment's notice – metering is a huge part of this amalgamation. It is one of the most important aspects of photography, yet most photographers struggled with. Exposure is the foundation of all great images, and when you learn how to control your in-camera meter, the door towards photographic creativity opens, empowering you to make more effective decisions. It's a technical subject that builds you a solid base on the path to capturing extraordinary photographs. You can create mood, enhance color, emphasize light and add subtly to detail when you capture a proper exposure, whether you are photographing a portrait of a friend, a grand landscape, a vacation moment or a hamburger for an ad.
Another reason to learn metering is that you can apply the concept to almost any art or craft, knowing the limitations of your tools -- in this case, your camera and image sensor. Being well-versed in what's possible, and figuring out ways around potential disadvantages, helps to create better final images. Through lighting, contrast and exposure, pros use this knowledge to their advantage on every shoot.
From camera to computer
In this day and age of the digital darkroom, where editing programs are so robust, the phrase "fix it in Photoshop" seems to be here to stay -- and because of this, many question the need for metering knowledge. I explain this doubt with the analogy of the camera's exposure being the recipe or items you carefully select and mix together, and Photoshop being the oven you cook it all in. You need both to generate a high-quality final creation. Capture as much possible information in-camera and the easier post-capture editing becomes. Less adjustments are needed, and because your RAW image file stores the appropriate detail, the better the final result; tones and colors match more accurately, and less highlight and shadow detail is lost. Image editing programs are a wonderful expansion of photography, but if you rely on adjusting every aspect of your photo using software, your images with lack impact and consistency, quality will level off, and computer time will exponentially rise. Finally, the knowledge of metering also prepares you for processing your digital files in computer -- the added knowledge of tonal range, contrast and light helps to create the most realistic renditions.
Bracketing
Photographers who lack the understanding of how to meter use a technique called bracketing on a regular basis, capturing a series of exposures of one scene hoping to nail one solid frame. However this adds post-capture time, forcing you to review a higher number of images, while also filling up more storage space on your memory cards. In many cases, bracketing may not be an option due to a moving subject or a single precise moment that can't be captured in a series of shots.
There are some advantages to bracketing, the biggest being the higher percentage of chance you capture the exposure you desire, and with extremely contrasty scenes sometimes there are a mix of exposures that work, therefore the decision becomes which type of mood or detail you desire instead of which exposure. Bracketing can also assist in the education process of metering, showing you how your camera reacts to colors, tones, over and underexposure. This is best applied when combined with the knowledge of metering.
The three meter-ka-teers | Return to top |
Reiterating the aforementioned basic equation, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to enter a camera and be received by the image sensor or film through the course of capturing an image. This is created through three main components: aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
Aperture is defined as an adjustable iris (circle, hole or opening) inside your lens that changes depending to your setting (called the f-stop). It controls two aspects of exposure. First, the amount of light entering the camera and lens, through the f-stop -- a measurement used for the size of the lens opening; the larger the aperture, the more light, the smaller the aperture, the less light. Secondly, the f-stop adjusts the depth of field in a scene. Measured in inches, feet or meters, this is the range of distance over which the image is not unacceptably less sharp than the sharpest part of the image. For more on apertures, see our recent Primed article: What is aperture, and how does it affect my photos?
Shutter speed is defined as the rate at which the shutter, a mechanism inside the camera, opens and closes to expose a scene -- whether on film or onto a digital image sensor. It too controls two aspects of exposure: the amount of light entering the camera and lens, and the speed at which the scene is captured, measured in time (fraction of seconds, seconds, minutes or hours).
Digital ISO (known as ISO or ASA with film) is the third factor of metering, and one that gives you more choices with your exposure settings. Since you can control shutter speed and aperture through ISO, the number you choose can affect the final outcome greatly. ISO determines the sensitivity of your image sensor or film to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive; the lower the number the less sensitive. As with any aspect in exposure, there are trade-offs. The "faster" or higher number ISO (i.e. 400, 800, 1600), the less light is required (a shorter time is needed to expose the scene onto the image sensor). The lower the number, the more light is needed (a longer exposure). For more information, see our recent Primed article and review the section on ISO: Why your camera's sensor size matters.
These metering components can be altered in 1/3, 1/2 or 1-stop increments, and the combination of all three when balanced just right creates a solid exposure. If you are wondering what a stop is, it's a unit used to quantify ratios of light, one stop either halving or doubling the amount of light entering the camera.
A speed date with your meter | Return to top |
As the foundation for all great images, without the knowledge of exposure, your creativity lacks, you miss moments, lose subtle colors and spend more time in post-capture editing. Unless you comprehend how your meter works, capturing a good shot becomes hit or miss. The resulting image may not be what you expected, and if it is, you may not understand how to repeat it.
Your camera's internal reflective meter is the best tool for calculating exposures, if you understand how it operates, and how it can be fooled under a variety of circumstances. It measures light reflected off your subject and is influenced by the amount of light, the tones, color and contrast, then converts this reading into a recommended exposure setting. There are handheld versions called incident meters, which measure the amount of light that falls onto your subject, held next to your subject, then pointed toward the light to measure the source. Incident meters aren't as easily fooled as their reflective counterparts, however the option to place the meter next to your subject or in the same light is not always practicle during a shoot -- and it's yet another piece of equipment to carry. So, one detects the light after it hits your subject (reflective), while the other reads it before it strikes the subject (incident). Which is more accurate? Neither. They both read light differently. For this article, we'll address in-camera reflective meters, since 99 percent of photographers use these to read light and expose.
Your meter has a one-track mind
Point your camera at any scene and its main objective is to make whatever it's metering middle grey. Say what? I'll clarify. Referred to as Zone V by Ansel Adams, middle-toned or 18-percent grey by others, this grey is not a color, yet a tone halfway between white (highlights) and black (shadows). Your meter is telling you to shoot at a certain setting, but what it's really saying is 'take the photo at this exposure if you want to make this area or subject middle grey in tone' -- whether a tan face, the bright white moon, a landscape with a mix of colors or a dark burnt log. If your subject is middle grey in tone your exposure will be accurate, but if it's not, then you have some adjusting to do. Of course not everything we shoot is middle grey, so I use the term "meter's recommendation" when it comes to the exposure settings it offers, since your meter is not necessarily giving you the correct exposure. How do you distinguish what's middle grey, how much brighter or darker the tonal values in the scene may be, and how much to alter your meter to fix a tone from what is recommended? This is the part taking time, experience, miscalculations and trial and error -- a massive learning curve requiring years to perfect.
Your Metering Needle
Found in your camera's viewfinder or on the top LCD screen, your metering needle is another important tool, coordinating shutter speed, aperture and ISO to create a well-exposed photograph. Normally a linear area with notches, and typically denoted by a "0" in the middle, with "+" and "-" on each side, most metering needles (or levels) show a four-to-six stop range, depending on your camera model. Zero is the default setting whenever your camera is in an auto exposure mode. These modes include aperture (Av) priority, shutter priority (Tv), or program (P), telling the camera to determine an exposure based on the meter's middle grey-toned goal. Switch to manual exposure mode (M), and once you set your needle to "0", you can either overexpose or underexpose, overriding this recommendation to match your subject's true tone or create a mood; overexpose if you want to make your subject lighter than middle grey, underexpose if you want to make it darker than middle grey. You can also make this adjustment in an auto-exposure mode using exposure compensation (EC). Often seen as a "+/-" symbol on one of your camera buttons, EC offers the same method of moving to the plus side to brighten an exposure or match a brighter tone, or the minus side to darken a tone or scene.
A good initial question to ask yourself during this metering process is "what is my subject?," then meter attempting to match your subject's tone as accurately as possible, and let the rest of the scene fall where it may -- this method won't insure a perfect exposure every time, but it's a good starting point toward learning how to meter. It should be noted there are a myriad of exposure modes in cameras today, including pre-programmed scene modes, but these are considered auto exposure modes since they determine exposure in a way similar to aperture priority, shutter priority and program.
The Latitude from Highlight to Shadow
One big misconception of exposure is that you have to maintain detail in every area of your scene, all the time --- this is simply impossible, due to film or an image sensor's limitation in handling contrast (measured in stops of light). Film is capable of a five to six stop range, and an image sensor covers roughly six to nine stops. Human vision can pick up roughly 14-20 stops of light in one scene (without adjusting the pupil), so the assumption of trying to maintain all detail in all of our images is an exposure myth. If the contrast ratio from light to dark stretches more than six to seven stops, in most cases you cannot obtain every bit of detail in a single frame. Another strong belief is that by using your LCD screen, histogram or Photoshop, you can fix exposures, but unfortunately this can lead you astray -- your creativity lacks, you miss moments, lose subtle colors and detail and spend an inordinate amount of time in post-capture editing. Technology has come a long way and these new digital tools provide an advantage in the metering department, but they cannot replace a good understanding of exposure -- more on this later.
Learning how to judge tonal values is the big exposure challenge, so having a reference point always helps. One starting point to recognize is that two stops overexposed from "0," middle grey, gives you white with detail, and two stops under produces black with detail -- this depends on light and contrast, and is not exact, yet it's a rough reference point for you to begin to understand tones and metering. Go a half-stop further on each side, and you begin to lose most if not all detail in the bright highlight and darkest shadow areas.
All modes aren't created equal | Return to top |
Once you have some knowledge of how your camera meters a scene, metering modes are the next function to grasp, learning how the differences between each can drastically affect the recommended exposure. The mode you choose can and will change your meter's recommendation for any particular shot.
Spot or Partial metering
The toughest mode to master, spot metering reads the light from a small section, defaulted in the center of the frame (usually between 1-5 percent), whereas Partial meters a slightly larger area (5-9 percent). Using this mode allows you to select a small part of the scene, meter it directly without the influence of any other area, and judge the tone. In studying exposure for years this became my favorite mode, utilizing it more as an advanced method of reading various parts of a scene, similar to the way Ansel Adams used the Zone System. A bit of math on the fly is required with this method but it has its advantages.
Center-weighted (CW) or Center-weighted Averaging
Another main type of metering mode used in cameras going back many years, Center-weighted meters roughly 13-15 percent of the center area. If you choose the Center-weighted Averaging option, the entire composition is included in the reading, with the meter concentrating 60 to 80 percent of the sensitivity towards the central part of the viewfinder. Center-weighted metering is good for a variety of uses, especially where one tone is relatively large in the frame, such as a similarly toned area of sky, lake or grassy hillside.
Using certain metering modes like Spot, Partial or CW, can show you exactly where you are metering. This becomes a tool for learning since you can determine if you guessed a tone correctly once you review the image in computer. As you make mistakes or nail a tone, you learn, and your accuracy improves over time.
Pattern metering
Also known as Evaluative (for Canon users), Matrix (for Nikon users), Average, Multi-metering or Multi-pattern, this metering mode reads the light intensity in several points around the frame, averaging them for the final suggested exposure setting, favoring no major portion of your composition. Many feel it's the most accurate of all metering modes, but it depends on the subject, as well as the balance of light and tones. Metering using Pattern when in manual exposure mode is tough since you are really in a black box, not having a clear idea of how the camera determines the exposure -- how it weighs highlights versus shadows at various points -- thus any manual adjustments are hit or miss, unless you meter one continuous tone throughout the frame, such as the sky, a like or snow. It is best for auto exposure modes when you have little choice or time to meter, such as when capturing a fast-moving subject coming in and out of shadows. The comparison below gives you an idea of how metering modes react to a specific scene depending on the tone, light and subject matter.
The assistants | Return to top |
There are three others features of digital that add to this metering conversation: autofocus, your LCD screen and the histogram. The autofocus (AF) point can play a part in the meter's recommended exposure, depending on the camera you own and the setting you use. Some systems allow you to link or unlink autofocus to metering with the option of locking an exposure once AF confirmation is achieved (through auto-exposure lock). It's hard to determine how much weigh is placed on the autofocus spot, as compared to the metering mode used, adding some confusion to the recommended setting and requiring a bit more experience.
Some feel they can work around exposure by reviewing the LCD screen to see if they correctly metered the scene; then a miscalculated exposure could be fixed. The main problem with this method is, under a variety of circumstances, reviewing your image for exposure on your LCD screen is not preferred -- whether due to bright outdoor conditions reflecting on the screen, the size of it as compared to a large computer monitor in controlled conditions, or simply because it doesn't have the quality to judge exposure. Imagine watching your high-definition television in the backyard on a bright sunny day, then again at night in a darkened room -- although you hadn't adjusted the television brightness, contrast or color, there is a drastic change in the way the screen looks to your eye; the analogy of how your LCD screen can fool you on exposure. You can get a ballpark figure of exposure from your screen, but not true accuracy.
It's hard to get away from this habit, but it's good to know why your images may look different in your computer than on your LCD screen. Deciphering a histogram is critical to unraveling its real purpose, and similar to in-camera meters, it is often misunderstood and misused. The statement I routinely hear in my photo workshops is I don't know why my image wasn't well exposed -- I used my histogram. The fallacy of being your exposure solution has tricked most photographers into believing that digital solved the difficulties of exposure. Working in tandem with the LCD screen, many use the histogram to judge exposure, and although it is a wonderful digital tool, it is more sophisticated than most realize.
Histograms may help you determine certain aspects of exposure, such as pixel value, but most seasoned pros rarely review them in the field. First off, there is no such thing as a correct, or proper histogram. Having a perfect bell curve to your histogram does not create a perfect exposure -- this only tells you there is an abundance of middle tones in your exposure. This would be fine if you are photographing a grey rock, but not if you were capturing snow. Well-exposed photos can have awful looking histograms, where the graph is all the way to the left or to the right, maybe even cutting off highlights or shadows. This goes back to the fact that capturing every detail in every shot is impossible due to the limitations of an image sensor.
Other photographers rely on 'blinkies' (blinking areas on your LCD indicating overexposed highlights) to determine exposure, but once again, your image sensor's dynamic range cannot cover certain areas within many contrasty scenes, so this too can throw you off. If you judge your histogram, allowing it to control your exposure, or darken your exposure until the blinkies go away, you might underexpose the most important part of the scene: your main subject. The histogram is a better tool to utilize in post-capture processing -- to help study the range of our image sensors and ensure that you retain specific highlight or shadow detail. Would you ever use the histogram in the field? Sure, but this should be when you first comprehend exposure and how to meter light, then it might add to the metering decision. For instance, if you want to keep detail in a subject whose tone is close to white or black, you would meter your subject, expose the scene and check the histogram to guarantee no loss of detail in the critical areas.
Exposing the future | Return to top |
Frédéric Guichard, chief scientist at DxO Labs, sees metering innovations coming through application of high dynamic range (HDR) technology -- we agree. HDR has altered and stretched the bounds of metering, and new systems including cell phone cameras have begun incorporating these options with relative ease and decent success. "Other metering opportunities include a trend towards mirrorless cameras, pushing manufacturers to innovate and find solutions for better autofocus speeds in these models, possibly through ways of measuring autofocus directly on a mirrorless camera's sensor," says Guichard. "Innovations regarding phase detection, a common type of autofocus, being integrated to the pixels is yet another potential metering advancement; Fuji's discontinued FinePix F300EXR model contains this feature."
Wrap-up | Return to top |
Metering systems today have advanced and improved in many ways, yet the general concepts remain the same - get as much in-camera when it comes to detail, light, and exposure, and you images will shine. I compare metering a scene with a racecar driver – anyone can press on the gas, but it takes someone with experience and knowledge to drive that car well. So goes exposure –metering systems will continue to become more automated and intuitive, but learning how to operate these cameras and knowing how to choose the best mode for the scene will still require a bit of know-how.
There are no easy ways to capture consistent solid exposures outside of learning the fundamentals of metering, understanding how your camera's meter works, and recognizing the parameters of your image sensor. Then by following a step-by-step method you practice, play, and practice some more. Learning exposure can take years, but if you do so this newfound knowledge can give you full access toward creating the images you have in mind, or replicating what you see in a powerful way.
Sean is a commercial photographer, author of The Complete Guide to Nature Photography, photo expert, and all around nice dude.
PSA: Get your new iPad today in Austria, Ireland, Mexico and many other places
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 08:41 AM PDT
New iPad Arrives in the US & Nine Additional Countries on Friday
CUPERTINO, California―March 14, 2012―Apple® today announced the new iPad®, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, will arrive at Apple's retail stores and the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The new iPad features a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple's new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.** Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price starting at just $399.
Every customer who buys a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPad by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store™ and more, so they'll be up and running with their new iPad before they leave the store. Personal Pickup, available at Apple retail stores in the US and a feature of the free Apple Store® app, lets iPad customers shop and buy from anywhere they are, then pick up their purchase at any Apple retail store. In the US the new iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, Target and Walmart.
Pricing & Availability
The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white starting on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. iOS 5.1 and iTunes® 10.6 are currently available as free software updates. iPhoto®, iMovie® 1.3 and GarageBand® 1.2 are now available for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store (www.itunes.com/appstore). Keynote® 1.6, Pages® 1.6 and Numbers® 1.6 are available for $9.99 (US) each from the App Store. Updates are available for free to existing customers.
Starting March 23 the new iPad will be available in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
**4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the US and on Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada. Data plans sold separately.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
CUPERTINO, California―March 14, 2012―Apple® today announced the new iPad®, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, will arrive at Apple's retail stores and the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) on Friday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m. local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK; along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
The new iPad features a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple's new A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.** Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price starting at just $399.
Every customer who buys a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPad by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store™ and more, so they'll be up and running with their new iPad before they leave the store. Personal Pickup, available at Apple retail stores in the US and a feature of the free Apple Store® app, lets iPad customers shop and buy from anywhere they are, then pick up their purchase at any Apple retail store. In the US the new iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, Target and Walmart.
Pricing & Availability
The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white starting on Friday, March 16 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada and fast 3G networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad will be sold in the US through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. iOS 5.1 and iTunes® 10.6 are currently available as free software updates. iPhoto®, iMovie® 1.3 and GarageBand® 1.2 are now available for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store (www.itunes.com/appstore). Keynote® 1.6, Pages® 1.6 and Numbers® 1.6 are available for $9.99 (US) each from the App Store. Updates are available for free to existing customers.
Starting March 23 the new iPad will be available in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
**4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the US and on Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada. Data plans sold separately.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
High-res Mountain Lion art could point to Retina Macs in 2012
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 08:09 AM PDT
NVIDIA's GTX 680 tested in SLI and multi-display modes, loses some of its lead
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 07:41 AM PDT
[Thanks, Koen]
Visualized: Space Needle slingshot readies 35-foot Angry Bird for launch
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 07:11 AM PDT
[Photo credit: Rod Mar]
China Unicom says partnering with Apple was a good thing, we feign surprise
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 06:41 AM PDT
Distro Issue 33 takes on Apple's new iPad -- Now in HD!
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 06:15 AM PDT
Distro Issue 33 PDF
Distro on the iTunes App Store
Distro in the Play Store
Distro APK (for sideloading)
Like Distro on Facebook
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This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
What if trees could be used as batteries?
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 05:43 AM PDT
Yes, our bark-skinned friends are nice and beautiful and we shouldn't mess with them too much. But here's the thing: we already chop them down for paper, so why not use their spare woody meat for batteries too? Like previous attempts at organic energy storage, it all hinges on mimicking photosynthesis. Up to the a third of the biomass of a tree is a pulpy substance called lignin, which is a by-product from paper production and which contains electro-chemically active molecules called quinones. With a bit of processing, Professor Olle Inganäs at Linköping University in Sweden reckons he can turn lignin into a thin film that can be used as cathode in a battery, and he believes it's efficient enough to start industrial-style development of the technology. "Nature solved the problem long ago", he says, and "[Lignin is] a source that never ends". Meanwhile, if you imagine Inganäs as having a long white beard and cloak, then, er, snap.
Carpathia wants to delete orphaned Megaupload data, pay the bills
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 05:11 AM PDT
Intel leaks: ValleyView chip could bring 4x graphics boost to netbooks in 2013
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 04:21 AM PDT
Angry Birds Space won't land on Windows Phone, Redmond gets no stars (Updated: OK, maybe it will)
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 04:01 AM PDT
Update: It seems as if Mr. Vesterbacka misspoke, or his comments were taken our of context. Rovio's CEO, Mikael Hed, told Reuters that "we are working towards getting Angry Birds Space to WP7," though there is no time frame set for the release yet.
[Thanks, Timothy]
SugarSync 3.0 hits the iPad with revamped interface
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 03:47 AM PDT
Western Union debuts WUPay digital platform, misses the point of convenience entirely
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 02:53 AM PDT
Western Union to Launch Innovative Payments Platform: WU® Pay
WU® Pay Will Allow Better, Safer Customer Experience and Options in Online Payments
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced that it will launch WU® Pay, a new and innovative electronic payments platform that will significantly improve the customer experience and safety for millions of people seeking to make online payments or transfer money.
"WU Pay's payment capabilities, reach and safety create a platform that will have significant appeal to both merchants and consumers."
The new WU Pay platform allows online shoppers in the U.S. to pay for online purchases from their existing bank accounts or in cash at Western Union Agent locations. WU Pay is based on the eBillme platform, which Western Union acquired in October 2011.
The service is available as a payment option through hundreds of online merchant sites, including Sears, Kmart, Buy.com, Tiger Direct, RedCats USA and others. The payment option can also be used to purchase over 60 leading virtual gift cards including Amazon, jcpenney, The Home Depot, Dell, American Airlines and many others.
"WU Pay is an integral part of the ongoing change taking place at Western Union," said Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union. "WU Pay not only propels us further into the digital payments space, it improves our core money movement capabilities by combining the strengths of our brick-and-mortar Agent network and WesternUnion.com with the proven eBillme platform we acquired last year. This is a truly powerful combination of physical and online assets that will make safe and secure e-commerce possible for just about anyone."
WU Pay places a premium on safety. Customers who use WU Pay are not required to share any account, credit card or other financial information to do a transaction online. The way it works is simple: Shoppers choose the option at checkout page, and the order is confirmed with a bill sent to their e-mail address. Consumers pay the bill the same way they pay utilities, loans, insurance, and other bills, either through their online bank account or at one of over 44,000 Western Union® Agent locations in the U.S.
Merchants were drawn to eBillme because it allows them to offer more payment options, which helps acquire new customers. WU Pay also will be a lower-price option compared to other e-payment alternatives currently available.
In addition, customers using WesternUnion.com will have WU Pay as a payment option so they can pay for their money transfer transactions directly from their bank accounts.
"Western Union's ownership and capabilities make WU Pay a significantly stronger offering than we had as eBillme alone," said Marwan Forzley, eBillme founder, who leads the WU Pay program with Western Union. "WU Pay's payment capabilities, reach and safety create a platform that will have significant appeal to both merchants and consumers."
Additional information about WU Pay is available at: www.westernunion.com/wupay.
WU® Pay Will Allow Better, Safer Customer Experience and Options in Online Payments
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced that it will launch WU® Pay, a new and innovative electronic payments platform that will significantly improve the customer experience and safety for millions of people seeking to make online payments or transfer money.
"WU Pay's payment capabilities, reach and safety create a platform that will have significant appeal to both merchants and consumers."
The new WU Pay platform allows online shoppers in the U.S. to pay for online purchases from their existing bank accounts or in cash at Western Union Agent locations. WU Pay is based on the eBillme platform, which Western Union acquired in October 2011.
The service is available as a payment option through hundreds of online merchant sites, including Sears, Kmart, Buy.com, Tiger Direct, RedCats USA and others. The payment option can also be used to purchase over 60 leading virtual gift cards including Amazon, jcpenney, The Home Depot, Dell, American Airlines and many others.
"WU Pay is an integral part of the ongoing change taking place at Western Union," said Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union. "WU Pay not only propels us further into the digital payments space, it improves our core money movement capabilities by combining the strengths of our brick-and-mortar Agent network and WesternUnion.com with the proven eBillme platform we acquired last year. This is a truly powerful combination of physical and online assets that will make safe and secure e-commerce possible for just about anyone."
WU Pay places a premium on safety. Customers who use WU Pay are not required to share any account, credit card or other financial information to do a transaction online. The way it works is simple: Shoppers choose the option at checkout page, and the order is confirmed with a bill sent to their e-mail address. Consumers pay the bill the same way they pay utilities, loans, insurance, and other bills, either through their online bank account or at one of over 44,000 Western Union® Agent locations in the U.S.
Merchants were drawn to eBillme because it allows them to offer more payment options, which helps acquire new customers. WU Pay also will be a lower-price option compared to other e-payment alternatives currently available.
In addition, customers using WesternUnion.com will have WU Pay as a payment option so they can pay for their money transfer transactions directly from their bank accounts.
"Western Union's ownership and capabilities make WU Pay a significantly stronger offering than we had as eBillme alone," said Marwan Forzley, eBillme founder, who leads the WU Pay program with Western Union. "WU Pay's payment capabilities, reach and safety create a platform that will have significant appeal to both merchants and consumers."
Additional information about WU Pay is available at: www.westernunion.com/wupay.
Griffin's Helo TC Assault helicopter now on sale, gives you yet another way to annoy co-workers
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 01:52 AM PDT
It was way back at CES when Griffin's Helo TC Assault chopper first landed on our radar, and now it's set for retail takeoff. Remember the original TC we played with last summer? This Apache-inspired RC helicopter comes with the same IR flight deck, allowing for motion or touchscreen controls with Android and iOS devices. Aside from its aggressive design, the Assault lives up to its moniker thanks to six plastic missiles which you can "live-fire" toward unsuspecting co-workers. If you're ready to wage war against the likes of desk-mounted USB Missile Launchers, the TC Assault is on sale now for $60 -- though, you'll need to add-in a quartet of AAs on your own. Jump past the break to see how Griffin envisions the chopper serving during deployment, along with a detail-packing press release.
Griffin's HELO TC Assault Available Today
Debuted at CES, HELO TC Assault is a missile-launching, remote-controlled helicopter compatible with both iOS and Android
Nashville, TN – March 22, 2012 – Griffin Technology, one of the world's foremost creators of innovations for everyday life, launched HELO TC Assault on its website today. The comical sequel video also debuted today: the boss plots revenge on his employees who made a spectacle of his office using an army of HELO TC copters in a covert air strike mission during Griffin's first HELO TC video. Griffin has also created paper targets of the main characters in the video to be printed and used for target practice with the HELO TC Assault.
HELO TC Assault ($59.99) features include:
Flight Deck module that plugs into the headphone jack of any iOS or Android device, turning the device into a controller after downloading the HELO TC Assault app
Six live-fire missiles launched via a quick tap on the smartphone's touchscreen
Auto Land feature with tap of touchscreen controls
Two ways to fly: touch control (using a virtual joystick on the touchscreen display) or tilt to steer (tilting the smartphone's motion sensors to maneuver the chopper)
Intuitive, easy-to-learn and easy-to-use controls
Ability to record up to three Flight Plans for easy repetition
Stable twin-rotor design
Watch the original HELO TC teaser video and the new HELO TC Assault video and create paper targets of the main characters by visiting www.griffintechnology.com/helo-tc-assault.
HELO TC Assault, $59.99, is now available for purchase at store.griffintechnology.com/helo-tc-assault. The HELO TC Assault app is a free download from the App Store (itunes.apple.com/us/app/helo-tc/id435802394?mt=8) and Android Market (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.griffintechnology.helotc).
Debuted at CES, HELO TC Assault is a missile-launching, remote-controlled helicopter compatible with both iOS and Android
Nashville, TN – March 22, 2012 – Griffin Technology, one of the world's foremost creators of innovations for everyday life, launched HELO TC Assault on its website today. The comical sequel video also debuted today: the boss plots revenge on his employees who made a spectacle of his office using an army of HELO TC copters in a covert air strike mission during Griffin's first HELO TC video. Griffin has also created paper targets of the main characters in the video to be printed and used for target practice with the HELO TC Assault.
HELO TC Assault ($59.99) features include:
Flight Deck module that plugs into the headphone jack of any iOS or Android device, turning the device into a controller after downloading the HELO TC Assault app
Six live-fire missiles launched via a quick tap on the smartphone's touchscreen
Auto Land feature with tap of touchscreen controls
Two ways to fly: touch control (using a virtual joystick on the touchscreen display) or tilt to steer (tilting the smartphone's motion sensors to maneuver the chopper)
Intuitive, easy-to-learn and easy-to-use controls
Ability to record up to three Flight Plans for easy repetition
Stable twin-rotor design
Watch the original HELO TC teaser video and the new HELO TC Assault video and create paper targets of the main characters by visiting www.griffintechnology.com/helo-tc-assault.
HELO TC Assault, $59.99, is now available for purchase at store.griffintechnology.com/helo-tc-assault. The HELO TC Assault app is a free download from the App Store (itunes.apple.com/us/app/helo-tc/id435802394?mt=8) and Android Market (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.griffintechnology.helotc).
TiVo Premiere DVRs may get more storage soon, $149 500GB units appear for preorders
Posted: 23 Mar 2012 12:47 AM PDT
[Thanks, @BrennokBob]
Congressmen ask devs of 34 iOS apps about user privacy
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 11:41 PM PDT
8-bit Mad Men Choose Your Own Adventure looks awesome, is awesome (video)
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:34 PM PDT
Nokia releases Play To beta, updates Music app for Windows Phone
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:19 PM PDT
Leica's M9-P to be offered in unicorn-guise, $31,770 and Japan-only
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:32 PM PDT
Joystiq: Your mother-in-law is going to love Angry Birds Space
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 07:43 PM PDT
Minecraft heads to the Xbox 360 on May 9th, do not adjust your TV sets
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 07:00 PM PDT
It may not yet be quite the massive cultural phenomenon that Angry Birds is, but Minecraft is certainly no slouch in the ranks of little-games-that-could, and it's now set to expand its reach even further. Microsoft confirmed today that Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be available for download on May 9th, with it setting you back 1600 Microsoft Points (or $20). That will apparently buy you a fairly full-featured version of the game, including a revamped crafting interface, "natural controller movements," a tutorial mode, and split-screen multiplayer in addition to multiplayer over Xbox Live. Hit the links below for a closer look at it and the rest of the games in Microsoft's "Arcade NEXT" promotion.
NITDroid now available in alpha form, brings Android 4.0.3 to Nokia N9 (video)
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:13 PM PDT
[Thanks, Bikfalvi]
Bluetooth SIG embraces GNSS Profile 1.0 for GPS data sharing
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:41 PM PDT
Watson lends a helping hand to cancer research, partners with Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 05:03 PM PDT
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, IBM to Collaborate in Applying Watson Technology to Help Oncologists
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have agreed to collaborate on the development of a powerful tool built upon IBM Watson in order to provide medical professionals with improved access to current and comprehensive cancer data and practices. The resulting decision support tool will help doctors everywhere create individualized cancer diagnostic and treatment and recommendations for their patients based on current evidence.
The initiative will combine the computational power of IBM Watson and its natural language processing ability with MSKCC's clinical knowledge, existing molecular and genomic data and vast repository of cancer case histories, in order to create an outcome and evidence-based decision support system. The goal is to give oncologists located anywhere the ability to obtain detailed diagnostic and treatment options based on updated research that will help them decide how best to care for an individual patient.
The IBM Watson system gained fame by beating human contestants on the television quiz show Jeopardy! It can interpret queries in natural language and uses statistical analysis, advanced analytics and a powerful array of processors to search millions of pages in seconds and deliver evidence-based statistically-ranked responses.
MSKCC's world-renowned oncologists will assist in developing IBM Watson to use a patient's medical information and synthesize a vast array of continuously updated and vetted treatment guidelines, published research and insights gleaned from the deep experience of MSKCC clinicians to provide an individualized recommendation to physicians. The tool will also provide users with a detailed record of the data and evidence used to reach the recommendations.
The need for such an advanced technology arises from the steadily increasing complexity of oncology treatment. Cancers are the second most common cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease, and the American Cancer Society projects that 1.6 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year* with outcomes varying widely across the country. Cancer is not one disease but some hundreds of sub-types, each with a different genetic fingerprint. Significant discoveries in molecular biology and genetics in the past two decades have delivered new insights into cancer biology and strategies for targeting specific molecular alterations in tumors, but these advances have also ratcheted up the complexity of diagnosing and treating each case. Oncologists and physicians who do not specialize in specific sub-types of cancer face a significant challenge in keeping up with the magnitude of rapidly changing information.
"The combination of transformational technologies found in Watson with our cancer analytics and decision-making process has the potential to revolutionize the accessibility of information for the treatment of cancer in communities across the country and around the world," said MSKCC President and CEO Craig B. Thompson. "Consistent with our mission, the vision is to help better identify and personalize cancer therapies for each individual patient, no matter where that patient may be receiving care. We also expect tremendous new research opportunities to emerge from this collaboration."
"Memorial Sloan-Kettering's evidence-based clinical approach, scientific acumen, and vast database make it the ideal partner in this ambitious project," said Dr. Martin Kohn, chief medical scientist, IBM. "Cancer care is profoundly complex with continuous clinical and scientific advancements to consider. This field of clinical information, given its importance on both a human and economic level, is exactly the type of grand challenge IBM Watson can help address."
"This comprehensive, evidence-based approach will profoundly enhance cancer care by accelerating the dissemination of practice-changing research at an unprecedented pace," said Dr. Mark G. Kris, Chief, Thoracic Oncology Service at MSKCC and one of the clinicians leading the development effort. He noted that 85% of patients with cancer are not treated at specialized medical centers and it can take years for the latest developments in oncology to reach all practice settings.
Development work is already underway for the first applications, which include lung, breast and prostate cancers. The objective is to begin piloting the solutions to a select group of oncologists in late 2012, with wider distribution planned for late 2013. This collaboration complements an earlier announcement by IBM and WellPoint that the parties will focus on putting Watson to work on oncology solutions.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) have agreed to collaborate on the development of a powerful tool built upon IBM Watson in order to provide medical professionals with improved access to current and comprehensive cancer data and practices. The resulting decision support tool will help doctors everywhere create individualized cancer diagnostic and treatment and recommendations for their patients based on current evidence.
The initiative will combine the computational power of IBM Watson and its natural language processing ability with MSKCC's clinical knowledge, existing molecular and genomic data and vast repository of cancer case histories, in order to create an outcome and evidence-based decision support system. The goal is to give oncologists located anywhere the ability to obtain detailed diagnostic and treatment options based on updated research that will help them decide how best to care for an individual patient.
The IBM Watson system gained fame by beating human contestants on the television quiz show Jeopardy! It can interpret queries in natural language and uses statistical analysis, advanced analytics and a powerful array of processors to search millions of pages in seconds and deliver evidence-based statistically-ranked responses.
MSKCC's world-renowned oncologists will assist in developing IBM Watson to use a patient's medical information and synthesize a vast array of continuously updated and vetted treatment guidelines, published research and insights gleaned from the deep experience of MSKCC clinicians to provide an individualized recommendation to physicians. The tool will also provide users with a detailed record of the data and evidence used to reach the recommendations.
The need for such an advanced technology arises from the steadily increasing complexity of oncology treatment. Cancers are the second most common cause of death in the U.S., second only to heart disease, and the American Cancer Society projects that 1.6 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year* with outcomes varying widely across the country. Cancer is not one disease but some hundreds of sub-types, each with a different genetic fingerprint. Significant discoveries in molecular biology and genetics in the past two decades have delivered new insights into cancer biology and strategies for targeting specific molecular alterations in tumors, but these advances have also ratcheted up the complexity of diagnosing and treating each case. Oncologists and physicians who do not specialize in specific sub-types of cancer face a significant challenge in keeping up with the magnitude of rapidly changing information.
"The combination of transformational technologies found in Watson with our cancer analytics and decision-making process has the potential to revolutionize the accessibility of information for the treatment of cancer in communities across the country and around the world," said MSKCC President and CEO Craig B. Thompson. "Consistent with our mission, the vision is to help better identify and personalize cancer therapies for each individual patient, no matter where that patient may be receiving care. We also expect tremendous new research opportunities to emerge from this collaboration."
"Memorial Sloan-Kettering's evidence-based clinical approach, scientific acumen, and vast database make it the ideal partner in this ambitious project," said Dr. Martin Kohn, chief medical scientist, IBM. "Cancer care is profoundly complex with continuous clinical and scientific advancements to consider. This field of clinical information, given its importance on both a human and economic level, is exactly the type of grand challenge IBM Watson can help address."
"This comprehensive, evidence-based approach will profoundly enhance cancer care by accelerating the dissemination of practice-changing research at an unprecedented pace," said Dr. Mark G. Kris, Chief, Thoracic Oncology Service at MSKCC and one of the clinicians leading the development effort. He noted that 85% of patients with cancer are not treated at specialized medical centers and it can take years for the latest developments in oncology to reach all practice settings.
Development work is already underway for the first applications, which include lung, breast and prostate cancers. The objective is to begin piloting the solutions to a select group of oncologists in late 2012, with wider distribution planned for late 2013. This collaboration complements an earlier announcement by IBM and WellPoint that the parties will focus on putting Watson to work on oncology solutions.
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 04:38 PM PDT
HTC One V for Telus goes on the record with Sense 4.0 (video)
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 04:14 PM PDT
Fake Android store spotted in China, includes Apple shop-in-shop
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:54 PM PDT
While we often see robot-themed booths at events like MWC, we've never come across a Google-owned stand outside the show floors -- and chances are what you see above is definitely not it. This KIRF Android shop is set up in Zhuhai, China, calling itself a "famous smartphone experience store." That said, if you're looking to pay it a visit for the special Green Army treatment, you may just throw a temper tantrum when you see Apple's own section where an array of legit iPhones and iPads are being showcased. Just be sure to get there before the black and white crew comes knocking...
iPhone shipments overtake BlackBerry in Canada, RIM now runner-up in its hometown
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:31 PM PDT
[Image credit via Life of an Architect]
Canon 5D Mark III hits US retailers, available in stores today
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:13 PM PDT
Facebook reportedly acquires 750 IBM patents, beefs up its IP profile
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 03:08 PM PDT
US DOJ sues AT&T for improper IP Relay billing, alleges millions in false claims to FCC
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 02:37 PM PDT
AT&T has violated the United States False Claims Act to the tune of "millions of dollars," according to a Department of Justice lawsuit filed this week. The DOJ alleges that the carrier intentionally neglected to authenticate users of the IP Relay service -- a tool utilized by hearing-impaired persons to type messages that communications assistants then read to callers. The service is also abused by individuals overseas to defraud U.S. businesses (think infamous Nigerian scams), which prompted the FCC to establish a law requiring telecom providers, including AT&T, to confirm the identity of registered users, which it apparently failed to do. This resulted in thousands of fraudulent users, representing some 95 percent of all calls, which AT&T received FCC payments for to the tune of $1.30 per minute. An AT&T spokesman was somewhat dismissive when speaking to the Associated Press, saying "as the FCC is aware, it is always possible for an individual to misuse IP Relay services, just as someone can misuse the postal system or an email account, but FCC rules require that we complete all calls by customers who identify themselves as disabled." But if the allegations are proven, there could be some pretty serious repercussions for Big Blue. DOJ PR is just past the break. United States Files Lawsuit Against AT&T in Telecommunications Relay Services Fraud Case
Government Alleges AT&T Improperly Billed the FCC for Reimbursement
The United States has filed a complaint against AT&T Corporation under the False Claims Act for conduct related to its provision of Internet Protocol (IP) Relay services, the Justice Department announced today. AT&T is a global conglomerate that provides a wide variety of telecommunications services, including Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
IP Relay is a text-based communications service designed to allow hearing-impaired individuals to place telephone calls to hearing persons by typing messages over the Internet that are relayed by communications assistants (CAs) employed by an IP Relay provider. IP Relay is funded by fees assessed by telecommunications providers to telephone customers, and is provided at no cost to IP Relay users. The FCC, through the TRS Fund, reimburses IP Relay providers at a rate of approximately $1.30 per minute. In an effort to reduce the abuse of IP Relay by foreign scammers using the system to defraud American merchants with stolen credit cards and by other means, the FCC in 2009 required providers to verify the accuracy of each registered user's name and mailing address.
The United States alleges that AT&T violated the False Claims Act by facilitating and seeking federal payment for IP Relay calls by international callers who were ineligible for the service and sought to use it for fraudulent purposes. The complaint alleges that, out of fears that fraudulent call volume would drop after the registration deadline, AT&T knowingly adopted a non-compliant registration system that did not verify whether the user was located within the United States. The complaint further contends that AT&T continued to employ this system even with the knowledge that it facilitated use of IP Relay by fraudulent foreign callers, which accounted for up to 95 percent of AT&T's call volume. The government's complaint alleges that AT&T improperly billed the TRS Fund for reimbursement of these calls and received millions of dollars in federal payments as a result.
"Federal funding for Telecommunications Relay Services is intended to help the hearing- and speech-impaired in the United States," said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will pursue those who seek to gain by knowingly allowing others to abuse this program."
"Taxpayers must not bear the cost of abuses of the Telecommunications Relay system," said David J. Hickton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. "Those who misuse funds intended to benefit the hearing- and speech-impaired must be held accountable."
The claims in the United States' complaint are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
The United States' complaint was filed in a lawsuit originally brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by Constance Lyttle, a former CA who worked in one of AT&T's IP Relay call centers. Under the act's qui tam provisions, a private citizen, known as a "relator," can sue for fraud on behalf of the United States, which has the option of taking over the case. If the lawsuit is successful, the relator is entitled to a share of any recovery. The case is U.S. ex rel. Lyttle v. AT&T Corp., No. 2:10-cv-1376 (W.D. Pa.).
Government Alleges AT&T Improperly Billed the FCC for Reimbursement
The United States has filed a complaint against AT&T Corporation under the False Claims Act for conduct related to its provision of Internet Protocol (IP) Relay services, the Justice Department announced today. AT&T is a global conglomerate that provides a wide variety of telecommunications services, including Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
IP Relay is a text-based communications service designed to allow hearing-impaired individuals to place telephone calls to hearing persons by typing messages over the Internet that are relayed by communications assistants (CAs) employed by an IP Relay provider. IP Relay is funded by fees assessed by telecommunications providers to telephone customers, and is provided at no cost to IP Relay users. The FCC, through the TRS Fund, reimburses IP Relay providers at a rate of approximately $1.30 per minute. In an effort to reduce the abuse of IP Relay by foreign scammers using the system to defraud American merchants with stolen credit cards and by other means, the FCC in 2009 required providers to verify the accuracy of each registered user's name and mailing address.
The United States alleges that AT&T violated the False Claims Act by facilitating and seeking federal payment for IP Relay calls by international callers who were ineligible for the service and sought to use it for fraudulent purposes. The complaint alleges that, out of fears that fraudulent call volume would drop after the registration deadline, AT&T knowingly adopted a non-compliant registration system that did not verify whether the user was located within the United States. The complaint further contends that AT&T continued to employ this system even with the knowledge that it facilitated use of IP Relay by fraudulent foreign callers, which accounted for up to 95 percent of AT&T's call volume. The government's complaint alleges that AT&T improperly billed the TRS Fund for reimbursement of these calls and received millions of dollars in federal payments as a result.
"Federal funding for Telecommunications Relay Services is intended to help the hearing- and speech-impaired in the United States," said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. "We will pursue those who seek to gain by knowingly allowing others to abuse this program."
"Taxpayers must not bear the cost of abuses of the Telecommunications Relay system," said David J. Hickton, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. "Those who misuse funds intended to benefit the hearing- and speech-impaired must be held accountable."
The claims in the United States' complaint are allegations only; there has been no determination of liability.
The United States' complaint was filed in a lawsuit originally brought under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act by Constance Lyttle, a former CA who worked in one of AT&T's IP Relay call centers. Under the act's qui tam provisions, a private citizen, known as a "relator," can sue for fraud on behalf of the United States, which has the option of taking over the case. If the lawsuit is successful, the relator is entitled to a share of any recovery. The case is U.S. ex rel. Lyttle v. AT&T Corp., No. 2:10-cv-1376 (W.D. Pa.).
AT&T rolls out Android 4.0 to HTC Vivid, other devices getting ICS in the 'coming months'
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 02:23 PM PDT
In the same breath, AT&T also made it known that it's still hard at work readying ICS for several other devices, and we can expect the updates to arrive "in the coming months." There aren't any surprises on the list of candidates: the Motorola Atrix 4G and Atrix 2, Pantech Burst and Element and the LG Nitro are all there, as well as a litany of Samsung devices like the Note, Galaxy S II, Skyrocket, Captivate Glide and Galaxy Tab 8.9. There's no more information yet, so the lucky owners of each one will just have to remain waiting on pins and needles for yet another undetermined number of months. Find the press release underneath.
android 4.0 now available to htc vivid™ customers
AT&T the First U.S. Carrier to Issue Latest Android Version via Upgrade
Update Includes Beats By Dr. Dre Audio™ and Updated HTC Sense™ Experience
Android Upgrades for Several AT&T Devices to Follow
DALLAS, March 22, 2012 – AT&T* today announced the availability of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for HTC Vivid™ customers. After installing the software update, customers can now enjoy the optimized audio experience of Beats by Dr. Dre Audio™ and new and improved HTC Sense™ experience. Information about these features and more can be found at http://www.att.com/vividupdate. HTC Vivid™ will be the first U.S. smartphone to receive Ice Cream Sandwich as an update and the first to be issued by a wireless carrier. It will be followed by several other AT&T devices in the coming months:
LG Nitro
Motorola ATRIX 2
Motorola ATRIX 4G
Pantech Burst
Pantech Element
Samsung Captivate Glide
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Focused on bringing the power of Android to the surface, Android 4.0 makes common actions more visible and lets you navigate with simple, intuitive gestures. Refined animations and feedback throughout the system make interactions engaging and interesting. An entirely new typeface optimized for high-resolution screens improves readability and brings a polished, modern feel to the user interface.
New User Features for HTC Vivid
Beats By Dr. Dre Audio™ - Enhance your music and video experience with Beats By Dr. Dre Audio. Whenever a media file is played using the media players or most third party applications, customers will experience richer, more authentic sound. AT&T recently debuted the Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ Beatbox Portable high performance wireless audio system. The superior portable system and Beats accessories are available at AT&T company-owned stores or online.
Face Unlock - Android 4.0 introduces a completely new approach to securing a device, making each person's device even more personal - Face Unlock is a new screen-lock option that lets you unlock your device using facial recognition. It takes advantage of the device's front-facing camera and state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to register a face during setup and then to recognize it again when unlocking the device. Just hold your device in front of your face to unlock, or use a backup PIN or pattern.
How to Upgrade
Beginning today, customers can download the update via Wi-Fi by visiting http://www.att.com/vividupdate. If Wi-Fi is not available, you can download the software upgrade to a PC and install it via sideload. On March 23, HTC Vivid customers who have not downloaded the upgrade will begin receiving an SMS notification of upgrade availability.
AT&T the First U.S. Carrier to Issue Latest Android Version via Upgrade
Update Includes Beats By Dr. Dre Audio™ and Updated HTC Sense™ Experience
Android Upgrades for Several AT&T Devices to Follow
DALLAS, March 22, 2012 – AT&T* today announced the availability of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) for HTC Vivid™ customers. After installing the software update, customers can now enjoy the optimized audio experience of Beats by Dr. Dre Audio™ and new and improved HTC Sense™ experience. Information about these features and more can be found at http://www.att.com/vividupdate. HTC Vivid™ will be the first U.S. smartphone to receive Ice Cream Sandwich as an update and the first to be issued by a wireless carrier. It will be followed by several other AT&T devices in the coming months:
LG Nitro
Motorola ATRIX 2
Motorola ATRIX 4G
Pantech Burst
Pantech Element
Samsung Captivate Glide
Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy S II
Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Focused on bringing the power of Android to the surface, Android 4.0 makes common actions more visible and lets you navigate with simple, intuitive gestures. Refined animations and feedback throughout the system make interactions engaging and interesting. An entirely new typeface optimized for high-resolution screens improves readability and brings a polished, modern feel to the user interface.
New User Features for HTC Vivid
Beats By Dr. Dre Audio™ - Enhance your music and video experience with Beats By Dr. Dre Audio. Whenever a media file is played using the media players or most third party applications, customers will experience richer, more authentic sound. AT&T recently debuted the Beats™ by Dr. Dre™ Beatbox Portable high performance wireless audio system. The superior portable system and Beats accessories are available at AT&T company-owned stores or online.
Face Unlock - Android 4.0 introduces a completely new approach to securing a device, making each person's device even more personal - Face Unlock is a new screen-lock option that lets you unlock your device using facial recognition. It takes advantage of the device's front-facing camera and state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to register a face during setup and then to recognize it again when unlocking the device. Just hold your device in front of your face to unlock, or use a backup PIN or pattern.
How to Upgrade
Beginning today, customers can download the update via Wi-Fi by visiting http://www.att.com/vividupdate. If Wi-Fi is not available, you can download the software upgrade to a PC and install it via sideload. On March 23, HTC Vivid customers who have not downloaded the upgrade will begin receiving an SMS notification of upgrade availability.
Google Voice gets an ICS update, brings visual voicemail to the missed call log
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 02:01 PM PDT
To date, it seems that Mountain View has employed a loose definition of the term "integrated," neglecting to offer such Google Voice features as a unified messaging inbox, or an option to access voicemails without switching back to the dedicated app. Well we have some good news for those of you that haven't completely abandoned voice-based communication. The latest GV update adds a special topping to that Ice Cream Sandwich (sorry, Gingerbread men), letting you launch visual voicemails directly from your Android call log -- and bringing Voice integration a step closer to actually being integrated. You'll also have the power to slow down a message to jot down a callback number, or speed it up to get to the juicy stuff, like a callback number. Full details are at the source link below, or on your very own ICS handset after a quick trip to Play.
T-Mobile to eliminate 1,900 US call center jobs, says more 'restructuring' ahead
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 01:45 PM PDT
Dear colleagues,
I have difficult news to share today: we are consolidating our call center operations and closing seven of our 24 facilities. This decision was not easily reached, but it is a necessary measure. The reality is our cost structure must be better optimized to match our customer base and call volumes.
The affected Customer Service facilities are Allentown, Pennsylvania; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Frisco, Texas; Brownsville, Texas; Lenexa, Kansas; Thornton, Colorado; and Redmond, Oregon. The consolidations will result in 1,900 net job reductions. Approximately 3,300 employees at the seven impacted facilities will be affected, and we will begin hiring immediately at the remaining 17 call centers to fill as many as
1,400 positions.
Impacted call centers will remain open for three months following this announcement. Affected customer service representatives will have the option to transfer to any of the remaining 17 call centers. Employees who choose not to transfer and are employed on the date the center closes, will be offered transition packages with severance pay and outplacement support. T-Mobile is partnering with an outplacement firm to provide on-site career centers at all seven facilities. Every employee will have access to a personal career coach and be offered job search training and tools. In addition, T-Mobile will pay for two months of continued health care coverage under COBRA (which is available for up to 18 months for eligible employees who elect this option).
Looking ahead, we will also be restructuring other parts of the company. It is important to note this will not include our customer service representatives in the remaining 17 call centers, technicians in engineering or front line employees in our T-Mobile corporate-owned stores. In other parts of the organization, the majority of changes will be announced by the end of May 2012. Senior leaders are intently focused on making the best possible choices standing on the foundation of our shared T-Mobile Values. The outcome will be an organization that is structured efficiently and closer to the customer. Leaders will share more information as plans evolve.
These are not easy steps to take - or, I know, to read. We must address our business realities so we can focus on getting T-Mobile back to growth.
Our commitment, as we go through this process, is to provide clear perspective and understandable rationale, be forthright in our communications regarding our decisions, and be respectful and compassionate in our treatment of affected individuals.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment and support.
With sincere appreciation,
Philipp Humm
CEO & President
T-Mobile USA
The Engadget Podcast is live tonight at 5PM ET!
Posted: 22 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PDT
No Tim this week, but Brian will be holding things down in the New York studio with Terrence. Also joining via the internet for the first time is the one and only Billy Steele. Stay tuned. It's gonna be a fun one.
*** You can also stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.| You are subscribed to email updates from Engadget News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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