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- Live from President Bill Clinton's CTIA keynote
- Harry Potter e-book loaners coming to your Kindle, if you're Primed
- Bing gets big remake with Snapshot, social sidebar, dig at Google (video)
- Konka W900 hands-on
- Nintendo DSi drops to $100, DSi XL drops to $130 on May 20th
- NEC's 13.3-inch LaVie Z Ultrabook weighs just 2.2 pounds, brings lithium-magnesium into your life
- HTC Car StereoClip hands-on
- iCache Geode digital wallet hands-on (video)
- HTC EVO 4G LTE for Sprint review
- Blue Droid RAZR heading to Verizon on May 17th, Ice Cream Sandwich nowhere to be found
- Editorial: Facebook's my digital scrapbook first, social network second
- TiVo Premiere XL4 review
- TiVo Spring update brings new Netflix and YouTube experience
- Does Samsung's point-and-shoot departure mark an industry-wide shift to mobile?
- Apple to pitch in on costs for improving Foxconn factory conditions
- Dish Network adds 'Auto Hop' commercial skipping feature to its Hopper DVRs
- HTC One X camera discovered to have remote shutter functionality with BT headsets
- Samsung's $1,500, 17-inch Series 7 Chronos arrives, UPS employees check their spine insurance
- Sprint Galaxy Nexus review
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 review round-up: 'just get here if you can'
- Samsung's big-chinned SPH-L300 gets papped by Mr Blurrycam
- Autodesk launches 123D Catch for iPad, lets you turn pics into 3D models
- NDS' Surfaces turns your wall into a TV, or a TV into a wall... one of those two
- NVIDIA outs GeForce GTX 670 GPU: it's Kepler without the mortgage
- Insert Coin: Etcher, the fully functional Etch A Sketch iPad case
- Mozilla calls Windows RT a return to the 'digital dark ages' for limiting browser choice, Google nods in agreement
- Samsung shuns point-and-shoot cameras, switches factory to pricier mirrorless types
- iPod owners notified of RealNetworks-related lawsuit's class action status, given chance to cash in (updated: not Real)
- Navy looks into UV cloak for stealth aircraft
- Fujitsu outs new Lifebook laptops and an Ivy Bridge-packing Ultrabook
- Nuance takes credit for voice features inside Samsung's 2012 Smart TV lineup
- Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom's pointless patent posturing
- Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste
- PSA: Nokia Lumia 900 available from Phones4U in the UK from today!
- Meg Whitman: HP's engineering is very much still alive, aims to be cloud computing leader
- Nokia swings Mail for Exchange to Series 40 dumbphones: now in beta labs for testing (video)
- Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox ink deal to bring additional Instant content to Latin America, Brazil
- Samsung Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich update begins rolling out now!
- ASUS Zenbook UX32VD unveiled, packs discrete graphics to flaunt that 1080p screen
- Sony's final 2011 report shows a record net loss, optimism for 2012
| Live from President Bill Clinton's CTIA keynote Posted: 10 May 2012 11:46 AM PDT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Harry Potter e-book loaners coming to your Kindle, if you're Primed Posted: 10 May 2012 11:36 AM PDT
Amazon will never run out of copies of Harry Potter e-books from its Lending Library. Thanks to a new agreement with Pottermore, on June 19th the entire seven-book collection will be among the 140,000 plus you can grab, provided, of course, that you're an Amazon Prime member. If you've forked over the $79 yearly membership fee, you'll have no due date or waiting, and all your highlights and bookmarks will be saved if you need to re-borrow. Unlike your local library, you can only take out one at a time, but at least you won't have to line up behind all the Muggles to get it. All 7 Harry Potter eBooks Coming to Kindle Owners' Lending Library Read all of J.K. Rowling's iconic Harry Potter series for free on your Kindle Kindle Owners' Lending Library now includes more than 145,000 books, including over 100 current and former New York Times Best Sellers SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 10, 2012-- Owning a Kindle just got a whole lot better for magic-loving Muggles. Starting June 19, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) is adding all seven Harry Potter books (in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish) to the Kindle Owners' Lending Library (KOLL). Harry Potter is the all-time best-selling book series in history, and Amazon has purchased an exclusive license from J.K. Rowling's Pottermore to make the addition of these titles possible. The Kindle Owners' Lending Library is a benefit of Amazon Prime membership-Prime members also enjoy free two-day shipping on millions of items and unlimited streaming of more than 17,000 movies and TV episodes. The Kindle Owners' Lending Library has now grown to over 145,000 books that can be borrowed for free as frequently as once a month, with no due dates. "We're absolutely delighted to have reached this agreement with Pottermore. This is the kind of significant investment in the Kindle ecosystem that we'll continue to make on behalf of Kindle owners," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Over a year, borrowing the Harry Potter books, plus a handful of additional titles, can alone be worth more than the $79 cost of Prime or a Kindle. The Kindle Owners' Lending Library also has an innovative feature that's of great benefit for popular titles like Harry Potter – unlimited supply of each title – you never get put on a waiting list." The Kindle Owners' Lending Library now features over 145,000 books to borrow for free, including over 100 current and former New York Times Best Sellers. With traditional library lending, the library buys a certain number of eBook copies of a particular title. If all of those are checked out, readers have to get on a waiting list. For popular titles like Harry Potter, the wait can sometimes be months. With the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, there are no due dates, books can be borrowed as frequently as once a month, and there are no limits on how many people can simultaneously borrow the same title-so readers never have to wait in line for the book they want. Just as with any other Kindle book, your notes, highlights and bookmarks in borrowed books will be saved, so you'll have them later if you purchase or re-borrow the book. Books are borrowed from a Kindle device, and customers can have one book out at a time. When customers want to borrow a new book, any borrowed book can easily be returned right from their device. To learn more about the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, visit www.amazon.com/kindleownerslendinglibrary. To learn about all the additional benefits included with Amazon Prime, or to start an Amazon Prime free trial, visit www.amazon.com/kindleprime. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bing gets big remake with Snapshot, social sidebar, dig at Google (video) Posted: 10 May 2012 11:25 AM PDT
Microsoft's determination to ratchet up the search engine wars just got clearer with a major rethink of Bing that includes a few potshots at Google. While the search results themselves are still prominent, there's now a Snapshot area in the middle that aggregates the common tasks linked to your search, such as booking a hotel room. Bing hasn't avoided the siren's call of putting social networking into search results, putting in both search hits as well as the option of asking friends, but has tucked the results into a social sidebar at the far right. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has already declared it a far better alternative to Google+ in-line results, which it sees "cluttering your results with social updates." You'll currently have to use a desktop web browser to see all the new Bingness, although Microsoft is promising a mobile-friendly update within weeks. <A data-cke-saved-href="http://video.msn.com/?vid=8d047c40-51dd-4728-8519-8393ce44a333&mkt=en-us&src=SLPl:embed:syndication:uuids&from=shareembed-syndication" href="http://video.msn.com/?vid=8d047c40-51dd-4728-8519-8393ce44a333&mkt=en-us&src=SLPl:embed:syndication:uuids&from=shareembed-syndication" target="_new" title="Spend Less Time Searching, More Time Doing: Introducing the New Bing">Video: Spend Less Time Searching, More Time Doing: Introducing the New Bing</A> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 10 May 2012 11:17 AM PDT
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider Konka the number one practitioner of that "craft." The company, (in)famous for its OEM-copycatting ways, has set up a booth here at CTIA 2012, letting us get some up close and personal time with its W900. The HTC-esque handset, previously released at this past Mobile World Congress, is yet another in a line of underwhelming Android offerings that subsists on design without delivering on performance. Although, the phone's official spec sheet lists it as running Ice Cream Sandwich, the build we encountered was actually that of Gingerbread 2.3.6 -- a very buggy version, at that. So, don't let your eyes deceive you, what you're seeing on the homescreen is simply a third-party launcher made to ape ICS' more streamlined UI. Beneath that 4-inch WVGA display lies quadband GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900) and WCDMA (2100) radios, VGA front-facing / rear 5-megapixel cameras, in addition to support for WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth. Unfortunately, the company couldn't confirm what processor's powering this lackluster affair. But no matter, this is one uneven device you can safely ignore.
Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nintendo DSi drops to $100, DSi XL drops to $130 on May 20th Posted: 10 May 2012 11:15 AM PDT
Three-dimensional gaming not your thing? Then Nintendo's latest price drop might just grab you. It's cast an eye over the rest of its portable gaming family and decided to cut the cost on both the DSi (down to $100) and the hulking DSi XL (dropped to $130). These new prices will kick off on May 20th -- exactly the same day as this purple mess.
Two of Nintendo's top-selling video game systems are getting attractive new prices Effective May 20, the suggested retail price for the larger Nintendo DSi XL will be $129.99 and the suggested retail price for Nintendo DSi will be $99.99. Both the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DSi XL systems come pre-loaded with a variety of fun software, including Flipnote Studio, Nintendo DSi Camera and Nintendo DSi Sound. Nintendo DSi XL comes with additional pre-installed games and applications, including Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math and Photo Clock. The Nintendo DS family has more than 2,000 different packaged and downloadable games for veteran and new players of all tastes. These include timeless Mario games like New Super Mario Bros. and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, puzzling adventures like Professor Layton and the Last Specter and Dr. Mario Express, fun software like Photo Dojo and Shantae: Risky's Revenge, the gray matter-stimulating Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day! and upcoming games like Pokémon Conquest, which is available June 18. The new suggested retail prices provide an even greater incentive to pick up the systems, and provide an easy option for parents who want to introduce younger kids to their first portable games. With graduations looming, Father's Day approaching and the start of the summer travel season imminent, the new suggested retail prices appeal to all kinds of shoppers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NEC's 13.3-inch LaVie Z Ultrabook weighs just 2.2 pounds, brings lithium-magnesium into your life Posted: 10 May 2012 10:54 AM PDT
Just in case you thought NEC was done with its PC updates this week, the Japanese PC builder has thrown its hat into the Ultrabook ring with a unique contribution of its own. The LaVie Z has a 13.3-inch screen like your garden variety ultralight, but it weighs just 2.2 pounds through a new lithium-magnesium alloy shell about half the weight of the aluminum that some companies love to use. Unfortunately, that weight and the slim frame are about all we know so far: NEC isn't providing any internal specifications, possibly because it's waiting on Ultrabook-ready Ivy Bridge chips. Even so, if you're hanging around Japan and want the lightest possible laptop you can get at a 13-inch screen size, the wait until the planned summer release will feel like an eternity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 10 May 2012 10:33 AM PDT
Looking for something nice to take home alongside your shiny (oh, so shiny) new HTC EVO 4G LTE? How about the Car StereoClip? When the latest EVO hits shelves on May 18th, it'll launch with this Bluetooth accessory that lets you stream audio to any device with an mini stereo auxiliary input. The tiny, USB thumb drive-sized receiver has a micro USB port on one end for charging, and a male 3.5mm connector hides under a cap on the other side. While the dongle is being marketed for in-car use, it could be used to turn your home stereo into a set of Bluetooth speakers as well. HTC claims that Bluetooth 4.0 and aptX support should make for drastically improved audio quality -- at least when paired with a similarly specced phone. You'll be able to pick up the plug for $60 from Sprint, followed shortly thereafter by AT&T. Check out the gallery below for a few more pics.
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| iCache Geode digital wallet hands-on (video) Posted: 10 May 2012 10:22 AM PDT
The iCache Geode was easily the most impressive use of technology that we saw during CTIA 2012. It's the epitome of how a fantastic tech idea can be translated to real world use in a very classy and clever way. At its heart it is extremely simple: take all your existing credit, debit, and loyalty cards, save them in a secure way and be able to use any of them without actually having the original cards handy. The system is comprised of a housing for the iPhone coupled with an app, an E Ink display on the rear, a fingerprint scanner, the GeoCard, and a magnetic stripe reader that is capable of quickly reading in your card details and saving them. Using the Geode is a two-step process, scan all your cards into the device with an included scanner attachment, then using the iPhone app select your method of payment and the GeoCard in the housing is instantly programmed. Pop the card out, tap it on a solid surface to activate it and spend your money. Loyalty cards are equally easy to use: select one of them in the app and its barcode is written to the E Ink display on the Geode's rear surface. Of course iCache has considered the security implications and has addressed them a few different ways. The iPhone doesn't store any of your card details as they're kept in the housing itself, on launch the app does a hardware check to be sure nothing's been tampered with, asks for a fingerprint scan, and the card programming only lasts for a user-defined period of time after you've tapped it on the table. Click on through for a video demo of the whole ride. Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report.
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| HTC EVO 4G LTE for Sprint review Posted: 10 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT
HTC is on a roll in the US, first releasing the One S for T-Mobile and the One X for AT&T. Now, with the EVO 4G LTE on Sprint, it's ready to shift to the CDMA realm in a different costume. Internally, it's incredibly close to what's offered in the One series' flagship, but the Now Network has made a few tweaks to the device so it'll adjust to life as the latest smartphone in the fabled EVO lineup. This time it's packing a powerful processor, gorgeous display and the ability to connect to the still-dormant LTE. It's eager to show its face in retail stores beginning May 18th for $200, placing it in the high end of Sprint's selection. This review, however, is just a bit different from any we've done before. How so? To our knowledge, we've never done one in New Orleans before. But when a phone gets dropped in our lap at CTIA 2012, we're naturally going to put it through its paces, regardless of location. As it shares so many commonalities with its One brethren, we've been expecting a very similar fit, feel and performance. In our review, we'll take you through what's different and what's better or worse. Is this the best device to grace the hands of Sprint customers? Follow us past the break to find out.
Hardware To say this is a One device is a disservice; while it closely resembles a One in size and internal specs, there are several factors that contribute to our impressions of the device being completely different than HTC's trio of international Sense 4-clad superstars. No doubt due to the Taiwanese company's insistence at keeping its new brand intact without much interference from the notorious influence of US carriers, we're thankful that the EVO 4G LTE doesn't have any association with the One brand. If you had to compare the EVO 4G LTE with any of HTC's other phones, it'd be closest to the AT&T One X without a question. It stays true to several specs, such as the sensationally beautiful 720p S-LCD2 4.7-inch display (for a pixel density of 312ppi), 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8960 Krait SoC, 1GB of RAM, LTE compatibility, 8MP ImageSense rear camera and 1.3MP front-facing shooter. However, it adds a few tempting improvements: its 16GB internal storage space is now friends with a built-in microSD slot, beefing your maximum capacity up to 48GB. The phone's battery is also larger at 2,000mAh, versus 1,800mAh on both versions of the One X. Finally, Sprint's model is graced with HD Voice, a feature that's expected to become a staple on more devices in the Now Network's lineup. Now, let's not dance around the kickstand. As minor a feature it may seem, it was a major talking point for the EVO 4G when it was first released in 2010. The metal piece is something we typically only see in HTC devices -- it was also added to the Thunderbolt's chassis last year. Oddly enough, it's as if the kickstand only shows up in inaugural next-gen phones: the EVO 4G was the first WiMAX device, the Thunderbolt was the first LTE smartphone on Verizon and this time it's making an appearance in the first HTC LTE handset on Sprint's network. We're happy to report that the kickstand feels completely polished in use, and we have full confidence that this little gizmo will hold the weight of the phone without any hassle. It even works in two directions for good measure. Why does this matter? It means you can charge the phone while it's propped up. Shifting our focus to the edges, we see a microUSB charging port on the left and a 3.5mm jack on top alongside the power button and one of two mics. The right side of the phone sports a volume button and -- joy of joys -- a camera shutter button. Despite our love for this fancy hardware feature, we don't see it in as many phones anymore. Sadly, this includes every device in the One series. We're definitely applauding Sprint and HTC for making sure it was included in the EVO 4G LTE. As the name implies, this iteration of EVO is indeed capable of hitting LTE speeds, utilizing Sprint's 1,900MHz spectrum -- in theory, at least. There's just one simple yet significant catch. Despite the fact that this phone will be available in stores on May 18th, the LTE switch hasn't been flipped to the "on" position. We're told that it's still on track to arrive this summer, but don't expect to take advantage of the super-fast speeds to satisfy your lust for unlimited data just yet. CDMA is all you get in the meantime -- WiMAX isn't even an option to hold you over. For now, the phone's name is just a bunch of empty acronyms writing checks Sprint can't cash. Also, world travelers won't be remotely happy with their experience on the EVO 4G LTE, as the phone lacks the GSM and HSPA+ radios necessary for international roaming in nearly every corner of the globe. Performance and battery life Sprint's newest flagship follows in the exact footsteps of its similarly specced predecessor, offering up more of the same all around near-excellence. Navigation through the seven customizable homescreens is predictably fast and responsive. It's hard to find much fault with the finesse of the EVO 4G LTE's user experience. Unfortunately, that briskness falls prey to occasional hiccups, as we noticed when the screen froze during an attempt to access the settings menu. We were able to get the device to eventually respond, but those moments of broken fluidity are not exactly few and far between.
Software What's left to say about the software on a phone so nice, HTC's released it thrice? Not much, it turns out, especially where carrier customization is concerned. Sprint's managed to keep that count down to two, with only Zone and Hotspot taking up space in the app drawer. This is, after all, the cream of Peter Chou's smartphone crop and, as such, comes lightly bedecked in a Sense 4 suit, underneath which lies Google's latest dessert-themed UI (4.0.3) replete with the usual GApps, including Google Wallet. Members of the tech-savvy tribe should, at this point, be unfazed by this heretical skinned approach to Android 4.0 and either make peace with an unavoidable UX fate or saddle up for a rooting joyride. Whatever your preferred path may be, there's a refreshing lack of bloat on the handset. So, apart from Facebook and the Dropbox integration (still 25GB for two years) ushered in with the One line, you won't find much to complain about. CameraWhen it comes to imaging on superphones, it's fair to say that HTC's raised the bar with the camera on the One X and One S by combining a wide aperture f/2.0 autofocus lens and backside illuminated 8 megapixel sensor with an ultra-quick and intuitive UI. Not only does the HTC EVO 4G LTE feature the same fantastic shooter as its cousins (LED flash and all), it sweetens the deal by adding the one bit of hardware we really wanted -- a dedicated two-stage shutter key. This camera button feels absolutely phenomenal -- with just the right amount of resistance and tactile feedback. Another improvement is the recessed optics which are protected from both accidental scratches and fingerprints
It's clear that the EVO 4G LTE camera delivers. As expected, it takes lovely pictures with the same impressive low-light performance, striking colors and balanced exposure as the One X and One S. The features are identical too, with HDR and panorama modes plus a full set of real-time Instagram-like filters to chose from. The shooter is not without faults, however -- the autofocus often struggles in the dark and with close-ups of moving subjects, the white balance is sometimes off, and the settings still lacks a metering option (center-weighted, spot or average). While we applaud that the dual-detent shutter button locks both focus and exposure, there's no feedback from the UI when the camera is focused (such as a beep or a visual indicator in the viewfinder).
Video recording on the EVO 4G LTE is just as refined as on the One X and One S, delivering silky smooth, 1080p content at 30fps with stereo audio and continuous autofocus. Slow-motion capture carries over as well. In light of the short amount of time we've spent with the handset and the similarities with its cousins, we're re-posting our existing samples. Stay tuned for addtional images in the very near future. Wrap-up Let's not mince words here -- the EVO 4G LTE is a great phone in search of a network. Yes, it's thin, light, beautifully made and amazingly fast, with a gorgeous screen and a remarkable camera. Sense 4 enhances Ice Cream Sandwich without diluting the user experience. As such, it absolutely lives up to its EVO namesake. In fact, we dare say that it's the best Android smartphone you can get on the network. While it does not match the One X's incredibly polished design, it improves upon its cousin with a kickstand, a dedicated camera key and a microSD card slot. Still, the lack of GSM/EDGE/HSPA+ world functionality is bothersome on such a high-end device, and the sealed SIM is just downright egregious. So, is the EVO 4G LTE worth its $200 price tag with a two-year commitment? The answer is simple: until Sprint's LTE network becomes widespread, it's hard to recommend any handset stuck on the company's lackluster EVDO network -- unlimited data or not. As soon as the device can live up to its acronyms, however, we'll be much more apt to give it our seal of approval. Joseph Volpe, Myriam Joire and Terrence O'Brien contributed to this review. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Blue Droid RAZR heading to Verizon on May 17th, Ice Cream Sandwich nowhere to be found Posted: 10 May 2012 09:51 AM PDT
Blue your favorite color? Have a thing for 7.1mm thin slabs? Then today's your lucky day. Verizon just announced an azure flavor of its exquisite Droid RAZR is set to hit its physical and virtual shelves next week -- though, it could show up at brick and mortar shops a wee bit earlier than that. Aside from the most recent paint job, this Droid RAZR isn't changing much, meaning you'll still get that admirable 4.3-inch, qHD display, a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU and Android 2.3 onboard (worry not, ICS should be coming soon). For now, gather up your cash and pay your nearest Big Red store a visit -- who knows, you might just get lucky. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Editorial: Facebook's my digital scrapbook first, social network second Posted: 10 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT
I never wanted to join Facebook. I never wanted to join anything online, really. I was coerced into creating a Xanga at some point, and eventually -- when Facebook opened up to NC State email addresses -- I begrudgingly created an account there, too. I had a "thing" about opening my life up to the internet. I knew already that prospective employers would inevitably go digging through shots of me celebrating at an NCSU basketball game and spike my resume in the trash can beside his or her UNC degree. More than anything, though, I just didn't care what anyone else was doing. I kept a handful of comrades close to my chest, and everyone else was a mere acquaintance. At the time, I blamed it on the 21 hours of courses I was taking entirely on Tuesdays and Thursdays -- who has time for online networking when you're in an educational torture chamber? -- but now I realize the truth: I never wanted Facebook to be a social network. Is:It's kind of amazing that it took Facebook as long as it did to realize that not every sentence spoken on a social network needs to start like this: [NAME is...] I vividly recall awkwardly phrased statements that were glaring examples of how unnatural it was to use. Things like: "James is so amped that he just saw The Blair Witch Project!" and "Kevin is so loving this ice cream!" For whatever reason, it seemed that the primary thing that people turned to Facebook for (status updates) was the thing I was least interested in. And not a thing has changed in seven years. TimelineI joined Facebook on April 20, 2005. I know that because Facebook remembered it for me. And that, friends, is where the true magic of Mark Zuckerberg's network lies. To me, Facebook's most polarizing overhaul yet finally takes the service to a place that I had always wanted it to be; not because I had grand ideas about how it should service its increasingly growing customer base, but because -- selfishly -- the Timeline essence of the product was the only thing that really mattered to me. Millions upon millions of users later, it feels to me that Facebook has finally made the social network personal. Allow me to explain. To date, I have 257 friends on Facebook. I couldn't tell you how many of those are "active" if you nestled a Colt .45 upside my melon, and I still don't visit the site explicitly to see what all of 'em are up to. The beauty of having Facebook friends that match your actual life is all spelled out in the art of tagging. If you're confused -- well, let's just say I've spent more time treating Facebook as a digital scrapbook than a social network.
I'll be the first to admit that having friends makes the entire Timeline experience that much more enriching, but -- in my view -- it's predominantly because those very friends are actually helping me flesh out something. Helping me to create something that's larger than today. You see, I'm pretty big on capturing moments. Mostly, it's photos. I'll drag a monstrous D3S to the most inconvenient of places just to ensure I get a solid gallery of memories to take back with me, and given that I've traversed all 50 U.S. states and a few dozen countries, photos are vital to helping me keep track of what I did when I was 27... looking back from 55. But other things are important, too. Let's just call these "Life Events." You know, the day you splurged on that vehicle you always wanted, or the day you purchased a new home. Or, the day you quit one job and started another. Heck, I've not only found Timeline's memory of these things useful for my own personal satisfaction, but for things like loan applications. My own personal memory book It all culminates into something that I view as even more powerful and significant than a social network. It's more than sharing cat videos. It's more than telling people where you're eating. It's a never-ending stream of recorded information about what I call life, pinpointing moments in this walk that would otherwise be whisked away like dust in the canyon. To me, uploading images (and tagging their locations and dates) is a surefire method to provide myself with fond memories to look back on, to cherish. Tagging friends is just another play that enriches the result even further. Put simply, I'm using Facebook as a singular portal to remember things that I will eventually want to remember about life. Facebook, to me, isn't about today. It's about the future, looking back.
Here's an example: a few weeks ago, my brother-in-law busted out his (admittedly dusty) Nintendo 64, and we engaged in quite a few rounds of Mario Kart 64. A simple smartphone capture of the loading screen, along with a tagged date and location, was enough to staple a digital sticky note onto that day. It's a day that I'm sure I'll look back on fondly. I've spent the past eight months of my life writing my first book (iPad Secrets, for those curious), and that gaming session marked the first time in nearly a year that I actually had enough time to put down the keyboard and pick up a worn, faded controller. It all sounds forgettable to everyone but me, but that's precisely the point. The blur of status updates from those close to me never hit home, but when I myself look back on that N64 photo, I'll remember the inner freedom and unbridled relief that I felt. I'll remember what that session symbolized. I'll remember just how badly I had longed for one single hour of spare time, only to finally have it. That photo probably caused my more serious friends to roll their eyes; when I look back on it, I'll remember that it was cause for inner celebration. That's power. Writing storiesIn a sense, JPEGs and MOVs are my brush, and Timeline is my slate. I'm writing my stories on a scroll that only gets longer with each passing day, and I'm already envisioning how it'll become more important to me the older I get.
But this story is hardly about me; it's about the journeys that people are journaling every day on Facebook. We're in this strange in-between era, where my grandparents want nothing more than to gather around the same box of photos each holiday season to tell stories, while I want to fire up a projector and sift through the past 365 days of my Timeline. I no longer value the stagnant nature of the photo box, and my grandparents don't understand what the Internet is. But we're close -- we're almost there. Almost to a point where I will be the grandparent, longing to look at the Timeline of some youngster that I've adopted or otherwise ran into. That's powerful. A single, universally accessible portal that tells one's life story, beautifully arranged in the order that one's life was lived. My only regret I frequently hear older, wiser folks speak to me about things they regret from their past -- in most cases, it's not spending money when they should have, or spending too much when they shouldn't have.
At any rate, my only real gripe with Facebook's Timeline is that it wasn't available in the 1980s, and that my parents didn't create an account for me upon birth. As it stands, there's a cavernous gap between the day I was born and the day I joined, and it'll probably be a few decades before I have time to go back and fill it all in. So, kiddos born today and reading this in the archive stack at your local dentist -- cherish your Timeline. You've no idea what a solid your folks did you when they uploaded that video of you bawling straight out of the womb. This article originally appeared in Distro Issue 37. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 10 May 2012 09:02 AM PDT
With the recent spring TiVo Premiere update we figured it was as good of a time as any to spend some quality time with the newly-renamed TiVo Premiere XL4. The highest model in the TiVo line, the XL4 costs $399 plus $15 a month, or $499 for lifetime service. For the money, it records four HD shows at once with a single CableCARD and offers 2TB of storage. More tuners and space aren't the only things that have changed since we gave the original TiVo Premiere a once-over just two years ago. No, there have been a few notable releases as well as the release of the TiVo Slide Remote and a number of TiVo companion apps for phones and tablets. How all that comes together is exactly what you'll find out should you choose to click on through to the other side. Hardware
There are many similarities between the standard TiVo Premiere and the XL4, with the primary difference being the number of tuners. First up, the XL4 is the only CableCARD-enabled TiVo that doesn't support analog cable or over-the-air. But while this means it isn't the cord-cutter's solution that its little brothers are, the XL4 does offer the ability to record four shows at once -- although you wouldn't know it by the conflict resolution process. The other big difference here is the inclusion of MoCA. This might not seem like a big deal, but we think it is. The main advantages to MoCA are its greater reliability compared to WiFi and, while many homes still don't have wired network connections in the living room, everyone has coax in there. If you happen to have a provider like FiOS TV that uses MoCA as part of its solution, then it's even better because you can just connect the coax to the back of the XL4 and you're done. As an added bonus, the XL4 will act as a MoCA-to-Ethernet bridge. This means you can connect a switch, or anything else, to the CAT5 port on the back of the XL4 and have access to the rest of your home network on that device too. Other than that, though, the XL4 hardware falls in line with the rest of the Premiere lineup, including two rear USB ports, a single rear CableCARD slot, an eSATA port and the regular assortment of audio and video outputs. The bad news, though, is that like the rest of the line, there's no built-in WiFi. This really rubs us the wrong way considering TiVo offers its Wireless N adapter for $89.99, which is $40 more than the Roku LT streamer that includes it. Two final mentionables here are the THX certification and the Glo remote. As we pointed out in the original Premiere review, the standard remote is pretty cheesy. Both the XL and the XL4 include the TiVo Glo Remote, originally shipped with the Series3, that features a higher-quality feel, backlit keys and the ability to learn commands from your TV or AV receiver's remote. The THX certification basically amounts to a pair of filtered glasses that works with the preloaded six-minute THX optimizer video to walk you through calibrating your TV's picture settings to perfectly match the output of your DVR. We've huge proponents of calibrating your display to your source, so we can't express how much we appreciate this. All that being said, there's no reason you can't do this with other DVRs using something like the HDNet Test patterns (broadcast every Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. EDT) and the filtered glasses you get with a Blu-ray calibration disc. The lack of over-the-air tuners will certainly be missed by some, but one hardware feature omission we can't forgive is HDMI-CEC. We appreciate that the TiVo remote is programmable, but considering it will only control your TV and AV receiver's power, volume and input selection, we can't understand why TiVo doesn't implement HDMI-CEC. It would do away with programming the remote completely -- we can't think of a single TV or AV receiver released in the past five years that doesn't support HDMI-CEC. The XL4 does offer more control integration with third-party devices than most, though. In fact we were able to easily download a Crestron module for the TiVo and have full integration with our home automation system via IP without much effort at all (the protocol is published if you use a different HA controller).
Netflix, Youtube and other streamingStreaming movies from Netflix to your TiVo is nothing new, in fact TiVo was only second only to the Xbox 360 in adding the feature over three years ago. But unlike the Xbox Netflix experience that has been revised more than a few times since release, TiVo's experience has remained unchanged and was becoming very dated. That changes today, but sadly, not in a revolutionary way. What we mean is that, like the Hulu Plus experience on TiVo, the Netflix TiVo experience isn't unique. In fact, it's almost identical to that of the Boxee and other boxes. We don't care that it isn't new, per se, the problem is it isn't like the TiVo experience we've grown to love. The familiar TiVo colors, sounds and even button actions aren't much alike. We're not saying we don't like this new Netflix; it's just that we're disappointed that it isn't TiVo-flavored, say the way the Xbox version mimics the game console's user interface. You can browse for things to watch, finally, as well as search or rely on the tried-and-true Instant Queue. You can even find content on Netflix via TiVo's unified search, but it doesn't take you directly to the results when selected; instead it takes you to the Netflix search, which is better than what it did when we tried it from the iPad app (in that case, it simply launches the Netflix app). Speaking of launching the app, it takes about 40 seconds, which seems like a lifetime if you accidentally hit the TiVo, Guide or Live TV button on the remote and just want to find your way back to what you were watching. We're glad at least some of the buttons on the remote do the same thing, because the info, skip and replay buttons don't work at all when using Netflix. Instead you have to use the right and left d-pad to skip around in a show. The good news is that both 1080p and 5.1 are supported and we even saw the Dolby Digital Plus light on our AVR get some action. What's a bit jarring is the switch from 720p to 1080p. It seems that HD streams start out at the lower resolution and then switch after about 30 seconds, which can mean a few seconds of blackness if your HDTV doesn't resync as fast as you'd like. This can be especially annoying if the feed keeps switching back and forth between two resolutions while it deals with less-than-consistent internet throughput. This is less irritating than the alternative, however, because while TiVo supports 1080p passthrough, it can't rescale it like it can other resolutions.
Much like Netflix, the YouTube experience is like most other streaming boxes and not very TiVo-like. In fact the only real point of integration between the main TiVo experience and the other apps, including YouTube, is that TiVo search returns results from all sources. Launching any TiVo app takes more time than we'd like and the buttons on the remote don't behave the same as they do anywhere else. Switching apps is basically just as jarring as switching inputs -- assuming you had a programmable remote. The only thing worse than incongruous user experiences is the lack of apps, and while TiVo originally positioned the Premiere line as the everything box, here we are two years later and it hasn't kept up with the competition. Where are Watch ESPN, Vudu, HBO Go, Amazon Prime, Epix, Crackle or CinemaNow? The list goes on. We're sure TiVo owners are very happy to get updated versions of Netflix and YouTube, but, in reality, they're both long overdue and we'd be shocked if TiVo owners who were serious about those other sources haven't at least seriously considered adding another box to fill in the gaps. There is one source that TiVo has that almost no one else does, but unfortunately we're not in San Francisco and thus unable to try out the Xfinity On Demand, but everything we've read is good and, evidently, the plans are to expand it to more Comcast markets before too long. New guides and info bars Streaming apps aren't the only big change TiVo has made on the Premiere lineup since our initial review. About five months ago, TiVo released an update that finally brought the HD treatment to the guide and refreshed the info bars (among other features we'll cover shortly). The new HD guide is uncharacteristically snappy, optimized to fill the whole screen and, in this edition, moves the video preview window to the top right corner. Thankfully, the pause button will save you from that video window spoiling your favorite show. The revamped guide still leaves room to display eight channels and what is on for the next two-plus hours. The TiVo Live Guide is still available and looks a lot like the Grid expect that it displays the next eight shows on one channel at a time -- still a great way to find new things to record on your favorite channels. Unfortunately, there's no option to add color codes or built-in filters for genres like sports or drama, but TiVo has finally added indicators to let you know what will record and which are part of a season pass. As for guide options, you can easily remove any channel you want completely, create a single favorites list, quickly skip around by hours or days at a time or go straight to any time in the next two weeks. Additionally, you can sort by name, giving your provider's crazy numbering the boot once and for all. In addition to the old school favorite guides, there is a new mini one as well. Pressing the select button summons the mini-guide that displays just three channels and the next two-plus hours of programming, while still leaving most of the screen real estate for whatever is currently playing. What is a bit odd is that while select brings up the mini-guide, hitting it again selects the program currently highlighted in the guide (pressing the guide button with the guide displayed clears the guide), and if you'd like to go back to what you were watching, you'll need to hit the clear button. Like the full guide, the skip buttons make it easy to quickly jump to a different time in the future and channel up and down still works as page up and down. The program information available in the mini-guide is more limited compared to the full guide, but things like title, rating, channel info, season and episode number are still there. Also new since our original Premiere review is the info bar at the top that comes up when you change the channel or hit the info button. There are two new versions of it, with the less compact one offering more details, as well as some advanced options you might want easy access to. Pressing right also brings up this bar at the bottom of the screen, with the initial look presenting the details of the show, and pressing the down button allows access to see what the other tuners are doing, enable closed captioning or select alternate audio tracks. One thing that's missing that happened to be included in the old info bar is the ability to enable parental controls. The Spring update included the first HD TiVo user interface that even supports parental controls. You are prompted to temporarily disable parental controls if you try to access a TV show or movie with a rating beyond your set threshold (or tune to a channel you blocked completely). The only way to re-enable it is to not use the TiVo for four hours, put it in standby or dig in the settings a few menus deep. This one annoyance aside, we're sure concerned parents will be happy to feel less tied to switching back to the SD user interface just for parental controls, but they might still go back for KidZone, which may likely never get the HD treatment.
Whole-home DVRWe believe that 2012 might prove to be the year of the whole-home DVR, but if it is for TiVo, it hasn't happened yet. The Winter update did enable TiVo-to-TiVo streaming, but that isn't exactly enough to be a whole-home DVR. It is a big improvement over the previous multi-room viewing that wasn't compatible with content marked Copy Once (since it technically was making a copy of the recording). TiVo does make the Preview for a few cable companies, but it has yet to release it at retail and without the ability to remotely schedule recordings, it still wouldn't exactly make the TiVo Premiere line a whole-home DVR. Wrap-up  The truly sad thing is that even with all these misses, the TiVo Premiere XL4 is still the best DVR available at retail. On top of that, the overall user experience still manages to leave your provider's DVRs in the dust despite the fact that it may feature some of the previously mentioned gripes -- more features don't always equal a great experience. When you consider that CableCARD self-installs are now the norm and easier than ever, it all adds up to make the TiVo Premiere lineup of DVRs the best out there. All that being said, TiVo is leaving the market wide open for its competitors -- although that has been true for years. The bottom line is the only reasons cable subscribers might not want to go with the Premiere is that they'd rather roll their own DVR, they couldn't care less about the experience or they're just cheap. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TiVo Spring update brings new Netflix and YouTube experience Posted: 10 May 2012 09:01 AM PDT As promised at CES earlier this year, TiVo has released its Spring update with the anticipated new Netflix and YouTube apps, as well as porting parental control options to the Premiere's HD user interface. Netflix is the most intriguing of the additions, but while TiVo Premiere owners can now watch Netflix 1080p programming with Dolby Digital Plus discrete surround sound, like Hulu Plus, it isn't a TiVo experience. The new Google-built YouTube app is also like any other streamer and with the exception of search, there isn't much integration at all. Parental control options can finally be set when using the HD UI, but still isn't as full featured as it was with the old UI and is a far cry from KidZone. What the update doesn't do yet however, is complete the HD interface transformation that some Premiere owners have been waiting two years for. Still, we suspect that caveat won't stop owners from rolling the dice on an update check for their TiVo every day over the next few weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Does Samsung's point-and-shoot departure mark an industry-wide shift to mobile? Posted: 10 May 2012 08:47 AM PDT
Samsung's CES camera lineup had a single focus across the range: wireless connectivity. The company's flagship point-and-shoot, the 14-megapixel WB150F, boasts built-in WiFi at the very top of its feature shortlist. In fact, until you make your way to the third (and only) capture-related detail (an 18x optical zoom lens), you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish the dedicated device from some of Samsung's other camera-equipped offerings. With its latest generation of "Smart Cameras," the company moved to further bridge the gap between its gamut of portable devices, by bringing key smartphone features to its digital imaging line. As it turns out, the move was simply a crutch -- an opportunity to refresh models with technologies in which the company has already made significant investments. And it appears to have resulted in only a slight delay of the inevitable. We now know what to expect for Samsung's point-and-shoots -- pocketable models will step aside to make room for NX-series interchangeable lens cameras, and compact fans will continue to turn to Galaxy all-on-ones for their on-the-go shooting needs. Join us past the break for a closer look at how the move could impact the industry, and what the future may hold for the (formerly) beloved point-and-shoot. It's a shift that began on the consumer front long ago -- now it's being officially recognized by manufacturers. Sure, smartphones are still cost-prohibitive for some, but save for a few bottom-shelf budget offerings, so are point-and-shoot cameras. With a similar replacement cycle (roughly every two years), the burden of upgrading continues to lessen as our mobile devices catch up on the optical quality front. With excellent still images and 1080p video becoming standard, the only clear dedicated-device advantage lies in the lens, and like a pro with a prime, casual photographers have learned to compensate for this omnipresent setback by using their legs to do the zooming -- sure, it's not an ideal solution, but it has proven to be less of a challenge than you might expect. For select manufacturers, the implications couldn't be more positive -- consumers are taking their business to Samsung's explosively popular cellphone line, for example, and the iPhone 4S continues to make waves for Apple. Smartphone makers are incorporating improved optics -- an f/2 autofocus lens on the HTC One X, for example, and PureView on the Nokia 808 -- there's also been a huge push for software improvements. HTC has reduced lag and introduced Instagram-like features, a streamlined UI and a nifty slow-mo video mode. Samsung, for its part, has added clever sharing features, like S Beam and Buddy Photo Share to its Galaxy S III, while including camera functionality in the Siri-like S Voice. The versatility of a mobile OS offers clear software and sharing advantages over a locked-down camera operating system, and while image quality discrepancies are still noticeable, a smartphone's camera doesn't top the list of consumers' priorities -- but that doesn't mean they won't use it. During a visit to Samsung's Korean headquarters aimed at highlighting the company's increased commitment to the mirrorless segment, one question loomed above all others: Since Samsung's smartphones have been so successful, will we soon see resources shift away from compacts and toward improving image quality on mobile devices? In short, the response implied that Galaxy could one day be that group's focus as well, but the departure from point-and-shoots could take years, not months. Now, just weeks after that trip to Sammy HQ, it would appear that we have our answer. The imaging division is here to stay, but a shift has already begun.
There are some aspects of photography that smartphones will never touch. Sure, we've seen DSLR rigs for mobile devices like the iPad, but some creators themselves even recognize the product's impracticality. You won't see sports photographers using anything other than full-size digital SLRs -- not any time soon, at least. With a massive jump in focusing ability and vastly improved optics, we could one day see mirrorless models popping up on the sidelines (and not around the necks of friends and family members). But despite HTC and Sprint's recent marketing push with photographer Meeno Peluce, no self-respecting professional will show up on set and whip out their HTC EVO 4G LTE and expect an invitation to return for future shoots. High-end DSLRs continue to dominate the well-established pro market, and while ILCs receive accolades as second shooters, they won't soon cannibalize the $3,000-and-up segment. This means manufacturers like Canon and Nikon will remain afloat, for now, but they've no doubt seen a decline in point-and-shoot sales that's likely to continue until that category vanishes entirely. For consumers, the shift represents a boost in convenience, publication and savings, and while many device owners are still taking a hit in the image quality department, that won't be the case for long. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apple to pitch in on costs for improving Foxconn factory conditions Posted: 10 May 2012 08:29 AM PDT
Apple and Foxconn had already promised to improve working conditions at mainland Chinese factories, and Foxconn CEO Terry Gou has just revealed that the cooperation will be about more than just tightening up standards -- it'll be financial, too. The two companies plan to share the costs of making workers' day-to-day experiences more tolerable, although neither side is forthcoming with how much of the cost it plans to shoulder. Both Foxconn and likely Apple saw the better conditions as a "competitive strength," according to Gou, who implied that any costs would be paid back in goodwill and happier staff. Although it remains to be seen how much impact the cost sharing will have on Foxconn's ability to make its July 2013 target, that one of the contractor's many clients has actively volunteered cash to upgrade conditions is, as far as we can tell, a first. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dish Network adds 'Auto Hop' commercial skipping feature to its Hopper DVRs Posted: 10 May 2012 08:15 AM PDT
One of the main features when Dish Network unveiled its Hopper and Joey multiroom DVRs at CES was PrimeTime Anytime, a setting that archives three hours of network programming, every night on the four main stations for a week and now it's upping the ante by adding commercial skipping to the mix. While automated commercial skipping as an out of the box feature went out from most DVRs with ReplayTV, the new Auto Hop feature edits out the breaks from those PrimeTime AnyTime recordings starting at 1 AM that night. While it's still been possible on other platforms like Windows Media Center, Sage TV and MythTV with third-party add-ons (we can show you how on Media Center) this requires pushing just one button. So, assuming our glowing review and the knowledge that you'd never miss another primetime show wasn't enough to make the switch, is saving a few minutes watching those shows on DVR later pushing you towards the (potentially Mad Men-less) edge? DISH Introduces Commercial-Free TV With "Auto Hop" ENGLEWOOD, CO--(Marketwire - May 10, 2012) - DISH (NASDAQ: DISH) satellite subscribers will now get the feature viewers have been waiting for since the beginning of television -- the choice to automatically skip over commercials. The new "Auto Hop" capability for the Hopper whole-home HD DVR system is being activated today, and it allows customers to skip all commercials for most recorded primetime HD programs shown on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC when viewed the day after airing. "Viewers love to skip commercials," said Vivek Khemka, vice president of DISH Product Management. "With the Auto Hop capability of the Hopper, watching your favorite shows commercial-free is easier than ever before. It's a revolutionary development that no other company offers and it's something that sets Hopper above the competition." DISH is the nation's third-largest pay-TV provider, delivering TV service to millions of families nationwide. DISH launched the Hopper whole-home HD DVR system in mid-March, giving viewers the ability to record up to six shows at once while playing back HD content in up to four rooms. "Auto Hop" is an extension of the Hopper's PrimeTime Anytime™ capability, the exclusive feature that allows viewers, with one click, to record all of the primetime TV programming on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in HD -- the networks that deliver some of the most popular shows during primetime. The Hopper automatically stores these shows for eight days after they have aired, creating an on-demand library of approximately 100 hours of primetime TV shows, and making it easy to access episodes from last night, or last week. "The magic of PrimeTime Anytime is that it allows DISH subscribers to catch up on all primetime shows, including episodes recorded over the past week and recommended by friends, family, and co-workers after they've already been broadcast," said Khemka. "With Hopper, you have access to all primetime HD programs broadcast by the four major networks. Now you can watch many of those shows commercial-free, with Auto Hop." Auto Hop, using patented technology, works with most shows recorded using PrimeTime Anytime (patent pending). A viewer can watch a show with the Auto Hop option commercial-free starting at 1 a.m. ET, after a show has been recorded to the Hopper's PrimeTime Anytime library. Prior to that, The Hopper's 30-second "hop forward" feature continues to work for same-day viewing. Auto Hop does not work on live broadcasts. Lauded by reviewers as the best whole-home DVR for its intuitive user interface, never-before-seen features and reasonable pricing, the Hopper whole-home HD DVR system makes it easy to enjoy HD programs in multiple rooms. PCMagazine named the Hopper an "Editor's Choice" among DVR products and calls the award-winning and innovative Hopper "one of the best DVRs we've ever seen." ENGADGET has similar praise for the Hopper and the PrimeTime Anytime feature "because it allows us to discover shows anytime after they first aired, so if you learn of a great new show while wasting time at the water cooler, it isn't too late to go home and watch it or choose to save it for a later viewing. It's a step towards a future where we can watch whatever we want without having to plan in advance or consult a list to make sure our shows will be recorded. What else can we say? It just works." For more information about the award-winning Hopper and Joey by DISH, including technical specifications, please visit www.dish.com/hopper. Hopper and Joey images are available at http://press.dishnetwork.com/Press-Center/Photo-Library. About DISH Network | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HTC One X camera discovered to have remote shutter functionality with BT headsets Posted: 10 May 2012 07:57 AM PDT
Here's something fun for HTC One X owners with a knack for
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| Samsung's $1,500, 17-inch Series 7 Chronos arrives, UPS employees check their spine insurance Posted: 10 May 2012 07:31 AM PDT
Samsung's outed its massive 17-inch Series 7 Chronos desktop-killing laptop. The portable behemoth arrives packing a 2.6GHz Core i7 Ivy Bridge CPU, 8GB of RAM and NVIDIA's GeForce GT650M with a further 2GB of memory to itself. You'll be able to relax in front of that 17.3-inch, 300 nit, 1920 x 1080 display and listen to 2.1 surround thanks to some JBL speakers and a subwoofer. The seven-pound device is rated for up to eight hours of battery life and will comfortably hold 1TB of storage, depending on the size of your spreadsheet. It's available from today from all good retailers (and most of the bad ones too) for $1,500. Samsung 17-Inch Series 7 Chronos Offers Powerful Desktop-Like Experience in a Sleek, Elegant Laptop Newest Addition to the Series 7 Line Features a 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor, JBL Audio, Powerful Graphics and a 17.3" HD LED Display RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, today announced the 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS, the newest addition to its existing high performance Series 7 laptop line. With a sleek, elegant design, 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor and innovative ExpressCache™ technology, the laptop offers a desktop experience to consumers looking to remain productive and connected everywhere. Additionally, the 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS offers outstandingly rich stereo sound through JBL® speakers, premium 2.1 system graphics and a full HD LED display, making it an ideal choice for users unwilling to compromise on entertainment and multimedia. "The new Series 7 CHRONOS can truly serve as a desktop replacement, whether it's being used for work or play, because we've integrated so many powerful features into our innovative design and engineering, resulting in the ultimate personal computing experience" "The new Series 7 CHRONOS can truly serve as a desktop replacement, whether it's being used for work or play, because we've integrated so many powerful features into our innovative design and engineering, resulting in the ultimate personal computing experience," said Todd Bouman, vice president of marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division. "This product incorporates great features from our award-winning Series 7 CHRONOS line while offering consumers the newest, most powerful components available and a larger screen for a more immersive viewing experience without sacrificing the convenience of a laptop." Enhanced Speed and Performance Powered by a 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor, the 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS delivers unrivalled speed right from the start, making it easy for users to accomplish tasks ranging from Internet browsing to watching videos. This new quad-core processor empowers users to speed through even the most demanding tasks and effortlessly multitask between applications, thanks to Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology. Through Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0.1 users can also access an automatic burst of speed whenever they need it. The 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS also offers exceptional start-up times and powerful overall performance, including web browsing speeds that are twice as fast (using Microsoft Internet Explorer), thanks to its innovative ExpressCache™ technology, developed by Diskeeper, which provides 8GB of flash memory on the motherboard. Additionally, the inclusion of Samsung's Fast Start technology means that the laptop wakes up from hybrid sleep mode in as little as just two seconds, while Quick Boot has the notebook ready to go – from cold – in as little as 19 seconds, saving users valuable seconds of startup time. The performance of the 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS is further enhanced by the notebook's extended battery life. In addition to uninterrupted performance of up to 8 hours on a single charge (based on MobileMark test scores**), Samsung's Battery Life Plus technology keeps 80% of the cell's original capacity, even after 1,500 charges.** This results in a battery that can last up to five times longer than other notebooks and ensures that CHRONOS users always have the power they need to be productive, anytime, anywhere. Optimal Audio Visual Experience The 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS provides trendsetting consumers with the latest advances in multimedia technology. Powerful JBL® stereo speakers, a sub-woofer and HD audio processing result in an unrivaled auditory experience. Through this new audio integration with JBL, Series 7 CHRONOS users will enjoy clearer, richer sound, deeper bass and greater tone articulation when playing music and movies. The 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS provides a premium visual experience to match its high-end audio features. The next-generation full HD (1920x1080) high-resolution display features Samsung SuperBright™ technology, for a brilliant 300-nit screen (up to 40% brighter than traditional PCs) and a stunning range of color (up to 16 million). An anti-reflective matte screen results in images that look rich, vivid and crisp, with noticeable improvements in color depth, regardless of whether the user is indoors or out. This visual experience is enhanced by the inclusion of NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M 2GB graphics, the latest NVIDIA graphics with hybrid technology, resulting in virtually faultless playback of movies, games and multimedia. The Intel® Core™ i7 processor also augments the multimedia experience with a suite of built-in visual enhancements, improving the viewing experience for photos, videos and games. What's more, you can sync your Series 7 CHRONOS to your TV using the Intel® Wireless Display (WiDi) and an adapter, allowing you to effortlessly view all your digital content on a larger screen. Sleek, Elegant Design Building on the design heritage of its smaller models, the 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS has been crafted using modern brushed aluminum for a sleek, elegant appearance. The 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS is just one inch thick and weighs just over 6.5 pounds. Through its MaxScreen technology, Samsung was also able to greatly reduce the bezel of the 17-inch Series 7 CHRONOS, allowing a 17.3-inch display to fit in a smaller chassis. The result is a stunning viewing experience, which allows users to benefit from a large screen as well as an impressive design that is sure to be noticed everywhere. Signature Samsung Technology Samsung's Support Center ensures all content stays safe and can help troubleshoot any particular problem. Accessible with a keyboard shortcut, the Support Center helps users manage their system settings or arrange for a tech-support web chat. Samsung's Back-up & Recovery Solution also allows users to create and restore back-ups of system data on the device, or on a network or removable storage device. The 17-inch Samsung Series 7 CHRONOS is currently available and retails for $1499.99. All Samsung mobile PC products are available through Samsung resellers and distribution channels. For a full list of retailers, call 1-800-SAMSUNG or visit www.samsung.com. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 10 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT
Third time's a charm... Hardware
Internally, the Sprint edition of the Galaxy Nexus is more or less the same as Big Red's. The radio may work with different frequency bands, but it's still a combination CDMA / LTE chip. Otherwise, it's the same 1.2GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of flash storage and a 1,850 mAh battery. Pry off the back, however, and you will notice the internals have been rearranged somewhat. Perhaps the most conspicuous change is the lack of a SIM slot... or at least a visible one. There's a small flat square of smooth plastic above the battery, where the SIM slot would be located on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, that's actually a door preventing the user from swapping the micro-SIM on his or her own. With the right tools, we're sure the panel could be pried up, but you won't be switching accounts without a serious fight. Cosmetically, there are some slight differences from its two predecessors. Sure, it's the same size and weight as its LTE brother (which makes it a hair thicker and heavier than the GSM version), but it's sporting a slightly darker finish that has just a touch less sheen. The backplate also has a slightly different texture to match the more matte appearance. It still has a series of depressed diamonds in a crosshatch-like pattern, but the "weave" is much tighter, resulting in a smoother and softer feel in the hand. And, of course, there's the Sprint logo which, while no larger than its equivalent on the Verizon version, stands out much more thanks to the darker backdrop. Of course, no review of the Galaxy Nexus would be complete without mention of the amazing screen. After setting eyes on the HTC One X, the Super AMOLED panel on the GNex draws slightly less awe, but it's still an impressive display. We do find the auto brightness to be a tad aggressive and, if you're looking for it, you can notice the graininess that detractors claim makes the PenTile subpixel layout the worst thing since Pol Pot. Honestly, most of us Engadget editors aren't too bothered by the noise, but once you do notice it, the smear of pixels becomes almost impossible to ignore. There is some mild, though noticeable variation in the color temperature between the various versions of the phone, with dark grays taking on a purple hue on the Sprint edition, particularly with the brightness turned down. Software The Sprint Galaxy Nexus is no exception, and in this case, carrier customizations are kept to a delightful minimum. None of the usual Sprint fare, like NASCAR, Music Plus, NBA Mobile or TeleNav are on board. Still, that's not to say there aren't any wrinkles here. See, unlike its brother on Verizon, this Nexus comes loaded with Google Wallet. With four Wallet-compatible phones now in its ranks, this pretty much makes Sprint the official carrier of the payment system. And, as a bonus, Sprint is handing out a $40 credit just for signing up for Google Wallet, and that's in addition to the complimentary $10 you already get. Performance
Interestingly, despite running on CDMA only, it couldn't quite match the longevity of the Verizon version with its LTE radio shut off. In fact, it caved quicker than the HSPA+ model. After five hours and one minute, the 1,850 mAh battery threw in the towel leaving us wondering exactly what was going on. We suspect the primary culprit is the weak EVDO signal we were pulling in at our testing facility. With the phone struggling to stay connected it very well may have just burned through those lithium-ion cells that much faster. Network Camera
If you didn't like the camera before, you're not going to like it now; there are no surprises hiding here. The 5-megapixel shooter on the back is the same exact one Samsung has already trotted out twice. You can certainly coax pleasant-looking photos out of it with sufficient light, but we wouldn't recommend printing them out and hanging them in a gallery. When your surroundings get dim, expect plenty of noise in your pics. On the plus side, you still get continuous autofocus while shooting 1080p video and the zero shutter lag is every bit as impressive as it was on day one. If a high-quality image sensor isn't a priority for you when shopping for a phone you won't have any complaints here. But, if you're looking to replace a high-end point-and-shoot there are better options on the market. Wrap-up What can we say about this phone that hasn't been said before? No, seriously, what? It may sound a bit glib, but the Sprint Galaxy Nexus is the same phone we've already reviewed twice, just with a Sprint logo slapped on the back. There are some minor cosmetic differences, but they don't make the phone any more or less desirable. It's still one of the best, if not the best, phones on the market. What's more, if you've got a hankering for some plain vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich, this is the only way you're going to get it. (Short of loading up a custom ROM, of course.) The big difference here is the Sprint network, which makes it the weakest link in the chain -- at least until it flips its LTE network live. Here in New York, even when we could get a consistent signal, it was like we had traveled back in time. In the age of 4G, Sprint's EVDO Rev. A network simply can't keep up. But, if you're already a happy Sprint customer and want a future-proof device that will be able to take advantage of its LTE network when it launches, this is easily the best of your current options. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 review round-up: 'just get here if you can' Posted: 10 May 2012 06:50 AM PDT
While the world still waits for the GTX 680 to reach Newegg, NVIDIA has pushed ahead with the next card down in its stack: the $399 GTX 670. This more affordable option keeps most of the main Kepler credentials intact, but it necessarily makes a few compromises on the computational side, with fewer processing cores (1344 instead of 1536) and texture units (112 instead of 128) as well as slower base clock speed (915MHz instead of 1006MHz). Is that likely to be a problem? Judging from reviewers' responses published today, which cover cards from a range of vendors, probably not. In fact, as TechSpot puts it, "there's very little to critique," because the GTX 670 matches the performance of AMD's flagship Radeon HD 7970 at a much lower price. AnandTech's benchmarks put the reference board only ten percent (or a handful of fps) behind the GTX 680 in many recent games, leaving it "nipping at the 7970's heels," but it was still plenty powerful enough to play Arkham City or Battlefield 3 at 5760 x 1200 with high settings. PCPer's stats put the new card 15 to 20 percent behind the 680, but found good scaling in SLI mode. The Tech Report found the the GTX 670's cheap stock cooler let it down slightly, with a "friction-filled" idle noise well above the top-end Radeons and even above the dual-GPU GTX 690 -- but under load it conducted itself relatively well. We could go on, but ultimately if you're looking to buy this card then you'll want to do your own research at the links below, and then do a raindance. Read - TechSpot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung's big-chinned SPH-L300 gets papped by Mr Blurrycam Posted: 10 May 2012 06:46 AM PDT
Keep it under your hat, but Samsung's reportedly got a Sprint-exclusive handset in the works. If the images are to be believed, the SPH-L300 draws design cues from the chinny HTC Legend and packs NFC. According to BriefMobile's sources, there's a 800 x 480 display in the front, a Snapdragon S4 MSM 8960 in the middle and a 5-megapixel snapper 'round back. It'll also come with 4GB onboard storage, LTE and Ice Cream Sandwich from the get-go, oh, and it'll do a flawless impersonation of Bruce Campbell when things get slow at parties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Autodesk launches 123D Catch for iPad, lets you turn pics into 3D models Posted: 10 May 2012 06:31 AM PDT
Autodesk's had its 123D Catch iPad application in the works for quite some time now, but starting today, you'll finally be able to use that Cupertino slate to turn those beautiful snaps into three-dee creations. Similar to its desktop counterpart, the 123D Catch app won't cost a dime, and it's compatible with the second and third-gen iPads. To go along with the application, the company's also introducing its "MyCorner" cloud locker, which will let users store their pictures as well as share them between other Autodesk 3D apps. You can grab 123D Catch from the iTunes link below or via the app shop on your iPad. There's also a video after the break for your viewing pleasure.
Autodesk 123D Catch for iPad Turns Your Photos Into 3D Models Converting Physical to Digital on Mobile, Making 3D More Accessible to Everyone SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) announced that 123D Catch is now available for iPad on the App Store. This new free* app lets users take images from their iPad camera and upload them to the Autodesk cloud service that transforms the images into a 3D model. "The Autodesk family of 123D products breaks down barriers between the physical and digital, empowering users to customize the world around them" Complementing the desktop and newly released online versions, the Autodesk 123D Catch app allows users to capture the world around them in 3D while on the go. Imagine the potential for photos of vacation memories, family or other mementos brought to life in 3D. Captures made in 123D Catch can also be used as the foundation for further 3D modeling, 3D animation, or used to create a 3D printed object. Part of the 123D family of products, 123D Catch users can take advantage of a connected group of Autodesk software, fabrication services for 3D printing and laser cutting, and a community of like-minded individuals focused on 3D design and personal fabrication. The Autodesk 123D family provides users with the ability to capture, design and make their ideas, and connect with others for support or inspiration. Anyone can try Autodesk apps, services, and communities to experiment and experience the creative process. Autodesk also introduced a new feature for 123D products called My Corner, which provides cloud storage for all 123D design projects while connecting 123D product workflows. This feature will enable users to share files between products-123D, 123D Catch, 123D Make, and 123D Sculpt- to explore their creative ideas, or even use that model to create a physical object through fabrication services. Users can also share their projects and explore other people's creations from an online gallery that supplies an abundance of ideas for creative projects. "The Autodesk family of 123D products breaks down barriers between the physical and digital, empowering users to customize the world around them," said Samir Hanna, vice president, Consumer Products, Autodesk. "The launch of 123D Catch for iPad allows anyone to capture, explore, experiment and experience the 3D design and personal fabrication process." Autodesk 123D Catch app is exclusively available through the App Store for iPad at www.itunes.com/appstore. About Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries -- including the last 17 Academy Award® winners for Best Visual Effects -- use Autodesk software to design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com. *Free products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license and services agreement that accompanies the software. Autodesk, AutoCAD and 123D are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2012 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NDS' Surfaces turns your wall into a TV, or a TV into a wall... one of those two Posted: 10 May 2012 06:16 AM PDT
Remember the wall that was also a television in Total Recall? That's the inspiration behind Surfaces -- a concept device produced by British cable mavens NDS. Abandoning the idea of a single screen, the company mounted six displays into a wall that offers up TV and internet content when on, and blends into your wallpaper when off. The setup will even control your room's lighting for those particularly emotive X Factor performances and you control the whole thing with your iPad (while tweeting, bitchily about the show). However, before you storm the company's Staines headquarters looking to buy one, there are a few obstacles you should know about. Firstly, this amazing setup cost over $30,000 and secondly, it only really works if you've got plenty of content filmed in 4K -- but don't worry, Peter Jackson's working on it. [Image Credit: Jon Snyder / Wired] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA outs GeForce GTX 670 GPU: it's Kepler without the mortgage Posted: 10 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT
This'll be old news for some lucky folks, but NVIDIA has just unveiled the GeForce GTX 670 graphics card. It aims to bring Kepler to gamers who don't have off-shore bank accounts, with a price tag of $399 (or £329 in the UK, and €329 in Europe). What sacrifices will be made to reach that bracket, compared to the flagship GTX 680? A loss of 192 CUDA cores, for starters, plus a slightly slower 915MHz base clock speed, which will no doubt have an impact on benchmarks -- we'll do a review round-up shortly to figure out just how much. Nevertheless, you'll still get the same 28nm chip architecture and 2GB of DDR5 RAM, along with NVIDIA's GPU Boost technology that autonomously overclocks the processor to make use of available headroom. In terms of official performance claims, NVIDIA has chosen to compare its benchmarks to AMD's high-end Radeon HD 7950 and boasts that the GTX 670 comes out on top every time by a margin of 18 to 49 percent. Of course, the war of words is little more than performance art at this point, so stay tuned for independent tests. Meanwhile, gaming-friendly manufacturers like Origin and Maingear have declared that they'll carry the card alongside the 690 in its desktop offerings -- you can learn more about that after the jump. NVIDIA Kepler Juggernaut Rolls On With Launch of GeForce GTX 670 New GPU Brings Fabulous Performance, Power, and Acoustics to Gamers Everywhere SANTA CLARA, Calif.-May 10, 2012-NVIDIA today launched the third GPU based on its next-generation Kepler™ graphics architecture, the GeForce® GTX 670, which brings dramatically improved levels of price-performance, power efficiency and whisper-quiet operation for PC gamers, starting at £329 including VAT / EUR 329 excluding VAT. Engineered from the same DNA as the recently announced GTX 680-NVIDIA's top-of-the-line, single-GPU-the GTX 670 packs a mean punch in its lithe 9.5-inch-long frame. It outpaces the closest competitive product in gaming performance by upwards of 45 percent,(1) while consuming approximately 18 percent less power.(2) Plus, the GeForce GTX 670 ties the competition's much higher-priced flagship product on 25 of the world's most popular games and benchmarks, a testament to the overall performance efficiency of the Kepler architecture. The GTX 670 is built using NVIDIA's 28-nanometer Kepler architecture, as are the GTX 680 and dual-GPU GTX 690, which were introduced in March and April, respectively. Availability The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 GPU is available now from the world's leading add-in card suppliers, including ASUS, EVGA, Gainward, Gigabyte, Inno3D, KFA2, MSI, Palit, Point of View, PNY, and Zotac. More information about the GeForce GTX 670 is available from www.GeForce.co.uk. For more NVIDIA news, company and product information, videos, images and other information, please visit the NVIDIA newsroom. You can also access GTX 670 product photos from the NVIDIA Flickr page located at: www.flickr.com/nvidia. ORIGIN PC Launches the New NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Graphics Card May 10, 2012, 9:00 am EST, Miami, FL, – ORIGIN PC is excited to announce the launch of the new NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX® 670 graphics card to their award-winning desktops. The GeForce GTX 670 graphics card taps into the powerful, new, GeForce architecture to deliver a faster and smoother gaming experience. It also brings richer gaming environments to life with support from the latest NVIDIA advancements like surround multi-monitor gaming on a single card, supercharged PhysX®, 3D Vision® and SLI® technology. 1344 NVIDIA CUDA Cores and 2GB of GDDR5 Graphics Memory Supercharged NVIDIA PhysX® and NVIDIA 3D Vision® that delivers a game-changing experience MAINGEAR ADDS MORE AFFORDABLE NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 TO DESTKOP LINEUP The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 is the latest game changer powered by 2GB of GDDR5 memory and 1344 CUDA cores and has seven streaming multiprocessors instead of eight found on the GTX 680. Even with one less multiprocessor to the GTX 680, gamers will be able to experience gaming realism with NVIDIA ® Surround, Nvidia 3D Vision® Surround™ and PhysX® rendering incredibility detailed environments and characters in full 1080 HD or even 2560x1600 with a single graphics card. The GTX 670 features NVIDIA® GPU Boost; this advanced technology dynamically maximizes clock speeds to bring out the best performance in every game. The GeForce GTX 670 also supports new NVIDIA temporal antialiasing (TXAA) technology that minimizes "jaggies" to deliver the ultimate combination of quality and performance. The new GeForce GTX 670 can be found in MAINGEAR's critically acclaimed line of VRTX (Vertical Exhaust) Cooling Technology desktops: the SHIFT, the F131, and the Potenza. With a motherboard rotated 90 degrees to exhaust hot air out the top of the chassis, cool air is easily brought in from the bottom, making for a quieter, more reliable, and simply better performing PC. The low noise signature and power consumption of the GTX 670 combined with the heat stack design of these award-winning systems make for a potent combination of serene operation and killer performance. "The New GeForce GTX 670 combined with our desktop innovation equal a game changer in both aspects of performance and affordability." said Wallace Santos, CEO and Founder of MAINGEAR. "Offering a faster, smoother and richer pc experience is what MAINGEAR and NVIDIA always deliver." All of MAINGEAR products are supported with lifetime labor and phone support with one to three year hardware warranties. For more information about MAINGEAR's desktops with the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670, go to www.maingear.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Insert Coin: Etcher, the fully functional Etch A Sketch iPad case Posted: 10 May 2012 05:46 AM PDT In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Visions of the iPad as a modern-day Etch A Sketch have so far been primarily decorative: they've been more about remembering youth than recreating it. That's why Ari Krupnik & Associates' officially-sanctioned Etcher iPad case project on Kickstarter stands out. Those knobs? They work, and they're Made for iPad certified. And, as the Etcher is a product of the digital era, your creations in the custom-written app can be saved and shared to Facebook, Flickr or even YouTube as a time lapse video. Shaking the Etcher will still erase your image -- it just doesn't have to disappear forever this time. Your pledge level determines not only what variety of Etcher case you get, but how much control you get over the project. Committing $45 is all it takes for the nostalgic red, but if you spend $60, $75 or $100, you'll have the additional options for blue or a special backer-only color. Those at the $100 level get to vote on what color they and the $75 pledge-makers will see. A $175 outlay will provide early access to the software development kit as well as a say in what open-source license the code will use. Moving up to $210 or $360 will give you that control as well as an accordant five or 10 Etcher cases. If you like what you see, you have just over a month to contribute and make the iPad drawing add-on a reality. Previous project update: The previous project, Templeman Automation's Playsurface multitouch table, is just over a tenth of the way towards its $40,000 target. However, it's still young at more than three and a half weeks away from its deadline. If you like the idea of an open alternative to Microsoft's Surface, visit Templeman's Kickstarter page and chip in there as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 10 May 2012 05:28 AM PDT
Mozilla is waving red flags about Microsoft's forthcoming Windows RT (the variety designed to run on ARM processors). It's claiming that only the Internet Explorer browser will run under the much more (in computing terms) privileged Windows Classic environment. It claims this effectively makes IE the only fully functioning browser on the platform, with everything else being denied access to key computing functions (running as a Metro app). Mozilla argues that if IE can run in Windows (rather than Metro) on ARM, then there's no reason why the other browsers can't. Mozilla then goes on to extend an invitation to Microsoft to "remain firm on its user choice principles". Meanwhile it's not just the Moz that has taken umbrage at the move, with CNET reporting that Google also isn't happy with the situation, saying "We share the concerns Mozilla has raised regarding the Windows 8 environment restricting user choice and innovation." We'll have to wait and see what Microsoft's take on the matter is, but for now it looks like the browser wars are back on. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung shuns point-and-shoot cameras, switches factory to pricier mirrorless types Posted: 10 May 2012 05:11 AM PDT
Samsung's main camera plant in China is being converted to produce high-end mirrorless cameras instead of cheaper compacts. That's a steel-and-concrete sign that the manufacturer is trying to boost digital imaging profits by focusing on cameras with higher margins, and it implies a level adaptability that other companies can only dream of. To drive the point home, Samsung's imaging chief Han Myoung-sup told the WSJ that "low-end compact camera offerings will gradually be reduced" to make way for the "mirrorless segment." A wise move? Well, Sammy's latest NX range of interchangeable-lens (ILC) mirrorless models start at around $700, which is at least twice the going rate for a decent point-and-shoot. While that higher price point may seem off-putting, demand for mirrorless cameras is actually expected to explode by 60 percent this year, according to IDC projections -- while sales of compacts are retreating in the face of ever more powerful smartphone snappers. Ultimately, Samsung's business plan could be good news for us end-users too, if a newly expanded NX range brings the entry point for ILCs down by $200 or so -- although that could just be wishful thinking on our part. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 10 May 2012 04:58 AM PDT
Remember the 2005 lawsuit over Apple's effort to keep RealNetworks' Harmony DRM off of the iPod, calling the countermeasures an abuse that locked customers into Apple's FairPlay copy protection and the iTunes Store? You're forgiven if you don't -- the complaint was filed in 2005. Even with iTunes having gone primarily DRM-free over three years ago, though, owners of iPods bought between September 12th, 2006 and March 31st, 2009 are just now getting notices that they qualify for a slice of any damages if they register and Update: RealNetworks has chipped in to let us know that it's "not involved in any way" with the lawsuit, which is actually an independent complaint centered around the Rhapsody users themselves. RealNetworks hasn't embroiled itself in a legal fight with Apple to date. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Navy looks into UV cloak for stealth aircraft Posted: 10 May 2012 04:32 AM PDT
The Navy's invested good money in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which obscures radar waves and redirects engine heat to evade recognition by infrared sensors. But that stealth flier is still vulnerable to another type of detection: UV sensors. The Pentagon recently began soliciting proposals to develop a device that cloaks aircraft from ultra-violet detection systems. The hope is that such a technology could shield aircraft from missile seekers that scan the sky for telltale "UV silhouettes." According to the call for research, the solution could involve a device that disperses a cloud of quantum dots or other materials to veil jet fighters in a shapeless mass of UV shadow. Given that this is a rather daunting task, it's not surprising that the development timeframe and projected cost are still up in the air. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fujitsu outs new Lifebook laptops and an Ivy Bridge-packing Ultrabook Posted: 10 May 2012 04:02 AM PDT
Fujitsu started announcing its new summer lineup yesterday, unveiling two new Lifebook LH series laptops with Ivy Bridge under the hood. The company is back today with more Intel third-gen goodness and a new super-light notebook, all of which will start shipping in Japan on May 17th. Up first is the Lifebook UH75H, which we glimpsed at CeBIT back in March, and Fujitsu has wasted no time in giving it the "world's thinnest Ultrabook" distinction. The UH75H has a 14-inch display, measures a super-thin 15.6mm at its thickest point and weighs 3.2 pounds (1.44 kg). Its little brother, the UH55H, packs a smaller 13.3-inch screen, and both will be available in red or silver. There's also a new ultraportable, the Lifebook SH76H, which weighs just 1.34 kg (2.95 pounds) and is 16.6mm at its thinnest, though that sleek profile doesn't prevent it from offering an integrated optical drive. Fujitsu says this Lifebook will last almost 14 hours on a charge, about an hour longer than previous models. Like all SH machines, the SH76H has a 128GB SSD. Next on the announcement agenda are three new media-centric all-in-ones from the ESPRIMO FH family: the FH56, FH77HD and FH98M. All include a new "Quick TV" feature for launching the built-in TV viewer with the press of a button. Finally, there's the new 15.6-inch Lifebook AH78HA, the first notebook to include "nanoe" air purification for minimizing "fungi, smells, mold and allergens." That's making some pretty big assumptions about the cleanliness of your living space, but can't hurt, right? To accompany those new systems, Fujitsu is offering a new "My Cloud" feature that works with the company's FlashAir SD cards to wirelessly transfer media from a camera to a PC. My Cloud will also incorporate voice recognition to organize albums in My Photo Museum. Get all that? Good. Check out the presser below the break for the full lowdown. Fujitsu Announces Summer 2012 Line of FMV Series of Personal Computers Tokyo, May 9, 2012 - Fujitsu today announced that it has updated its FMV Series lineup of consumer-oriented personal computers. The summer 2012 line of LIFEBOOK notebook PCs and ESPRIMO desktop PCs features a total of 17 models in six product families that boast enhanced basic performance capabilities and new innovative designs. The new models will be available in Japan beginning May 17, 2012. The LIFEBOOK family of notebooks includes the new UH family of "Made in Japan"(1) Ultrabooks™. Lightweight and measuring just 15.6mm at their thickest point-making them the world's thinnest(2) notebook PCs with an integrated hard disk drive-the UH family features a seamless, beautiful design and is equipped with a CPU from the powerful 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ processor family. From the ESPRIMO family of desktops, the FH family of all-in-one LCD models (FH98/HM, FH/77HD and FH56/HD) comes with a new Quick TV feature that can launch the PC's built-in TV viewer in approximately five seconds. Fujitsu today also announced "My Cloud," a revolutionary new concept for PCs. In aiming to bring about a human centric intelligent society, the announcement is part of Fujitsu's continued efforts to create a prosperous future through a wide range of transformational technologies. Based on Fujitsu's human-centric approach of placing top emphasis on the user, My Cloud is a fresh concept in personal computing that will offer customers a new kind of experience. My Cloud will take advantage of Fujitsu's portfolio of transformational technologies-both past and future-and will present new possibilities for employing cloud computing. 1. Key Features of the Summer 2012 FMV Series Models The new lineup includes the latest models from the UH and SH families of LIFEBOOK notebook PCs, which have been designed with a total emphasis on slimness. In addition, the ESPRIMO family of desktops boasts new models from the FH family that feature enhanced TV functionality and a revamped design. (1) LIFEBOOK UH family: World's thinnest Ultrabook™ There are two new models in the LIFEBOOK UH family of Ultrabooks™: LIFEBOOK UH75/H (14" wide-format LCD model) and LIFEBOOK UH55/H (13.3" wide-format LCD model). The LIFEBOOK UH75/H measures only 15.6mm at its thickest point, making it the world's thinnest LCD notebook PC with an integrated hard disk drive, weighs only 1.44kg, and offers 9.1-hours of battery runtime(3). Continuing with its efforts to pursue thinness and compactness, Fujitsu has utilized Ultra Compressed Grid Construction technology and a durable magnesium alloy clamshell, which has undergone load testing of approximately 200kgf(4). These enable both durability and thinness, making this the ideal Ultrabook™ to accompany users wherever they go. LIFEBOOK UH75/H is extremely beautifully designed thanks to an ultra-thin frame that is only 4.3mm on the top of the LCD screen and 4.1 on the left and right, and a full flat fine-panel. Both models are available in two different colors-LIFEBOOK UH75/H in Satin Red and Satin Silver, and LIFEBOOK UH55/H in Alumite Red and Alumite Silver. LIFEBOOK UH75/H also comes equipped with the latest high-performance CPU from the 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ processor family. (2) LIFEBOOK SH family: World's thinnest13.3-inch wide-format LCD notebook PC with an integrated optical disk drive In addition to boasting high-spec performance that makes it perfect for use as a main machine, the thin, lightweight and long-lasting SH family of notebook PCs also features a built-in Super Multi Drive, enabling it to be carried anywhere at any time, both at home or when on the road. As the world's thinnest 13.3-inch wide-format LCD notebook PC with an integrated optical disk drive(5), LIFEBOOK SH76/H measures only 23.2mm at its thickest and 16.6mm at its thinnest point, while also featuring a lightweight 1.34kg(6) body and achieving a long battery runtime of nearly 14.0 hours(7) (as opposed to previous models' runtime of 12.9 hours). Furthermore, an integrated mobile multi-bay allows customers to exchange standard-equipped units with an expanded internal hard disk unit (option) or an expanded battery unit (options) based on their needs. With LIFEBOOK SH54/H, customers can select from three different color options: Urban White, Shiny Black and Garnet Red. Since all models in the SH family include 128GB solid-state drives, they can record data at super fast speeds and are incredibly quiet, even when accessing data. (3) ESPRIMO FH family: Enhanced TV functionality and a revamped design LIFEBOOK FH56/HD, FH77/HD and FH98/HM all come with a new Quick TV feature that can launch the built-in TV viewer in approximately five seconds. By simply pressing the TV power button on the accompanying remote control or the TV button on the PC itself, users are able to start watching digital terrestrial TV shows in a mere five seconds. The new models can record content in full high definition for up to fifteen times longer than previously, and they are also equipped with smart pre-set recording capabilities, so users can make full use of them as a TV recorder device. Moreover, these models are compatible with DTCP-IP, which protects copyrights while still allowing downloaded contents to be shared on digital devices, customers can record TV shows on their ESPRIMO desktop PC and then watch them on mobile devices such as a LIFEBOOK UH family notebook PC, ARROWS Tab tablet device, or smartphone. This enables recorded TV shows to be enjoyed in a wide variety of locations. Fujitsu has increased the size of the LCDs on the LIFEBOOK FH54/HT and FH56/HD from 20 to 21.5 inches, while at the same time designing the PCs with an even smaller body. On top of this, through the use of full HD full flat fine-panel IPS LCD technology, all models feature a revamped design and simplified audio-video functionality. 2. New "My Cloud" Feature for the Summer 2012 Line (Enhanced My Photo Museum Functionality) My Photo Museum automatically imports photos taken with a smartphone, digital camera or other device and automatically creates and edits albums. The latest version has been updated to include the following features, which enable integration with My Cloud. (a) Automatic album organization through built-in speech recognition When browsing an album created in My Photo Museum, comments spoken by the user about the photos and comments regarding the people featured in the album are collected as voice data. Then, speech recognition(8) is performed on the collected voice data, and personalized photo albums are automatically organized. (b) Wireless data transfer made possible through F-LINK and FlashAir™ Using F-LINK, still and moving images can be automatically downloaded wirelessly to the user's PC from a digital camera or video camera equipped with Toshiba's FlashAir™ wireless LAN SDHC memory card. Now that it is possible to easily transfer large-volume graphics data from smartphones, digital cameras or digital video cameras to their PCs, and create photo albums using speech recognition and face detection capabilities, users can enjoy a full range of album editing features with even greater ease. 3. Enhanced Power Saving Capabilities The F-PLUG will be available starting in late May. This power adapter allows users to employ the FMV Series' simple and convenient power saving features and monitor electricity consumption. The new lineup also includes an improved version of the already available Conservation Navigator feature. (1) F-PLUG: Power adaptor enabling users to monitor their electricity consumption At WEB MART(9), Fujitsu's online shopping site, the company will be offering F-PLUG, a new optional power adaptor for the LIFEBOOK AH family (AH77/HN, AH76/HN and AH50/HN) that allows users to effortlessly monitor the electricity costs of personal electronics devices in their household. F-PLUG measures the power consumption of connected personal electronics devices, as well as the surrounding temperature, humidity and brightness levels, and stores the results of these measurements in its internal memory. Measurement results can be downloaded via Bluetooth® to a PC by launching a special application. The computer is not required to be constantly turned on and connected, so it consumes very little electricity compared to other measurement devices of its kind. Energy consumption can be viewed on different timescales, including one-hour monitoring mode, which displays energy usage status throughout a day in one-hour increments, and real-time mode, which shows data from every five seconds. Data can also be judged against set target values, and comparisons can be made on a month-over-month or year-over-year basis, in addition to offering advice to users based on the data collected to date. As a result, F-PLUG can be very helpful in saving electricity. (2) Enhanced Conservation Navigator feature Starting with the latest lineup, Conservation Navigator, a unified dashboard for monitoring power-saving settings, is now available on 15 different models (compared to only 10 in the past). In the power-saving settings menu for Conservation Navigator, users can select from two approaches to power conservation on their computers: Easy Conservation and Strict Conservation. Strict Conservation mode provides a dashboard that allows users to manage detailed settings for power saving utilities, ECO Sleep, and other options. The latest version includes an added feature for instantly checking whether the user's current power setting parameters are in line with the recommended settings. In Easy Conservation mode, users can manage settings for screen brightness, screen sleep time, and computer sleep time using a menu that is easy to understand even for beginners. 4. First Notebook PC to Incorporate a "nanoe" Air Purification Unit The 15.6-inch LIFEBOOK AH78/HA notebook PC is the industry's first notebook PC to incorporate a "nanoe" air purification unit(10), which has to date only been employed in Fujitsu desktop PCs. Among the benefits of nanoe technology, users can expect a reduction in fungi(11), smells, viruses(12), mold(13), and allergens such as pollen and mites(14). Using a nanoe-equipped notebook PC can have a significant impact on one's daily life in reducing cedar pollen and deodorizing the scent of tobacco smoke. * Tests results for fungi reflect the effects after 240 minutes of use in an enclosed 10m3 test area. For viruses, the test results reflect the effects after 120 minutes of use in an enclosed 1m3 container. Tests were not conducted in an actual occupied space. Comment from Keiji Fujimoto, General Manager, Marketing Division, Panasonic Corporation Industrial Devices Company Panasonic Corporation is excited to announce that, as part of a joint-development effort with Fujitsu Limited, we are bringing to market the industry's first notebook PC to feature a nanoe unit. We hope customers will have the opportunity to experience our nanoe air purification technology and enjoy the benefits it can provide. New FMV Collaboration with Japanese Dance and Vocalist Group EXILE Starting with its summer 2012 FMV models, Fujitsu is teaming up with the popular Japanese dance and vocalist group EXILE, who will serve as a new brand ambassador for the company's FMV Series. Recently EXILE has continued to be involved in a wide range of daily activities as part of its mission of helping to invigorate Japan after last year's earthquake and tsunami. In teaming up its FMV line with EXILE in this mission, Fujitsu aims to pioneer a new world of personal computing through its "Made in Japan" technology. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nuance takes credit for voice features inside Samsung's 2012 Smart TV lineup Posted: 10 May 2012 03:41 AM PDT
Back at this year's eventful CES, Nuance announced it was launching a platform to bring voice recognition services to connected TVs, among other devices. Now, just a few months later, the communications outfit's taking credit for the voice features packed inside Sammy's 2012 Smart TVs. Essentially, this means those speaking commands used to control the Smart Hub, applications like Skype and even web surfing are all powered by Nuance's Dragon technology. The move itself isn't a surprising one, given Nuance's credibility within the industry. So, now you know who's making it all happen the next time you're telling that ES8000 what to do. "Hi TV"- Nuance's Voice Recognition Technology Powers Samsung's Voice Control for Samsung Smart TVs, including Smart Hub, Samsung Apps, Web Search, Skype and More BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that the innovative voice capabilities featured as part of Samsung's 2012 premium Smart TV line are powered by Nuance's unique Dragon voice technology. By working with Nuance to integrate tailored voice control capabilities, Samsung can provide consumers with greater choice and convenience in how they control their home entertainment experience. As part of a shared vision for a natural, intuitive digital living room experience, Samsung's Smart TVs take full advantage of Nuance's voice technologies optimized for TV platforms. Consumers can use natural voice commands to change channels, search for content on the Web, access Samsung's Smart Hub, and connect with friends and family via Skype. They can even turn on the TV by simply saying "Hi TV, power on." "The power and simplicity of voice integration as part of a TV interface is clear the moment you sit back and speak to your TV," said Michael Thompson, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile. "Working together, Nuance and Samsung are demonstrating how voice truly transforms the digital living room experience." Nuance's voice technologies complement the evolving digital TV experience that Samsung is pioneering with its 2012 lineup of Smart TVs featuring Voice Control as a part of its Smart Interaction offerings. By providing consumers with the ability to control basic TV functions via simple voice commands, Nuance's technology helps Samsung Smart TVs deliver a seamless and smarter way for consumers to control their TV. The partnership between Nuance and Samsung underscores the commitment both companies strive toward, to provide consumers with the ultimate "lean-back" experience. Availability For more details on Samsung's Smart TV lineup and availability visit http://www.samsung.com/us/2012-smart-tv/. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nokia loses UK appeal against IPCom's pointless patent posturing Posted: 10 May 2012 03:21 AM PDT
Nokia has had its appeal dismissed in the UK High Court in its Europe-wide patent battle against IPCom. The court found that the handset maker had infringed the German firm's 3G patent, but only on the Nokia N96 -- a phone the company no longer sells. IPCom can now request a ban on all British sales of the 2008 handset, a move that will probably affect tens of people. We've got an official response from Nokia's Mark Durrant after the break. [Image credit: Wikimedia Commons]
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| Scientists bend gamma rays, could neuter radioactive waste Posted: 10 May 2012 02:54 AM PDT
Bending most light is easy; bending it in gamma ray form, however, has often been deemed impossible given how hard it is for electrons to react to the extreme frequencies. University of Munich scientist Dietrich Habs and his Institut Laue-Langevin teammate Michael Jentschel have proven that assumption wrong: an experiment in blasting a silicon prism has shown that gamma rays will refract just slightly through the right material. If a lens is made out of a large-atom substance like gold to bend the rays further, the researchers envision focused beams of energy that could either detect radioactive material or even make it inert by wiping off neutrons and protons. In theory, it could turn a nuclear power plant's waste harmless. A practical use of the technology is still some distance off -- but that it's even within sight at all just feels like a breakthrough. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PSA: Nokia Lumia 900 available from Phones4U in the UK from today! Posted: 10 May 2012 02:36 AM PDT
Remember when Nokia said that overwhelming demand had postponed the UK launch of the Lumia 900? Forget it, Phones4U let us know that it received an early shipment of the Finnish flagship and will offer them to customers today instead of next Monday. It's available on Vodafone, Orange and O2 and will set you back between £20 and £40 each month depending on your plan, either in both Black or White, the latter exclusive to the independent seller. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meg Whitman: HP's engineering is very much still alive, aims to be cloud computing leader Posted: 10 May 2012 02:17 AM PDT
HP sure knows how to wrap up a party -- by letting its CEO make a surprise appearance right at the end of the show. Joining Todd Bradley on the stage, Meg Whitman reassured the audience with her company's "commitment to fantastic products," and that "engineering is very much still alive from HP." In regards to the recent merger of HP's Imaging and Printing Group with Personal Systems Group (which changed this week's show entirely), Meg -- who's a big believer in focusing tasks -- is confident that Todd's new team will deliver a united brand and a unified design language, thus making the PC business stronger with the best customer experience and customer support. Additionally, Meg seems to be getting along just fine with the board, saying that they are deeply engaged to plot a brighter future for HP. Under Meg's supervision, HP is doubling down on R&D and incubation, as well as aiming to be a leader in cloud computing (she claims that HP is already the largest provider of private cloud services) and security by bringing a full host of benefits that the competitors lack. When asked about HP's mobile and tablet strategy, Todd skirted around by emphasizing the happy partnership between HP and Microsoft on tablets, but he also said that markets evolve and change all the time, and that his company's well aware of the differences between the needs of enterprises or small businesses and the needs of consumers. So in other words, stay tuned. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nokia swings Mail for Exchange to Series 40 dumbphones: now in beta labs for testing (video) Posted: 10 May 2012 01:53 AM PDT
Nokia isn't just shaking up your browser on your humble Series 40 phone. This time, those cheap little bundles of communication goodness are preparing to get mail for Exchange, with the feature now undergoing testing in its Beta Labs. While Nokia might not be king of the phone hill anymore, there's still plenty of its solid dumbphones itching to get a taste of corporate email. This holds especially true for developing countries where the phone series still sells well and where Nokia's still pushing to increase its foothold. While you'll only be able to feel up the beta at the source below, the full-fat version is shaping up for a June launch and will be initially compatible with both the Asha 302 and 303. You'll need your phone's latest software to test out the beta, but if you're covered there, grab your goggles and visit Nokia's labs at the source below. If not, you'll have to make do with the intro video after the break.
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| Posted: 10 May 2012 01:30 AM PDT
Twentieth Century Fox and Netflix have announced a partnership that will bring additional television and movie content to avid streamers living in Latin America and Brazil later this year. Beginning on July 15th, TV mainstays -- including 24, Prison Break, Bones and Glee -- will be available via the movie rental company's Instant service in the aforementioned geographies. What's more, Twentieth Century's classic films division will add several movie titles, including cult-classics like Office Space and Wall Street, to the streaming menu. If you currently reside in Latin America or Brazil and are itching to know more, mosey on past the break and have a look at the full press release. Netflix and Twentieth Century Fox Announce Multi-Year Premium Pay TV Agreement in Latin America and Brazil BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 9, 2012 -- Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) and Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement that will soon make a host of great TV series and films available for Netflix members to instantly watch in Latin America and Brazil. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101014/SF81638LOGO) All past seasons of 24, Prison Break, The X-Files and Arrested Development will be available for viewing beginning July 15, as well as current and past seasons of How I Met Your Mother, Glee and Bones. In addition, Twentieth Century Fox classic films including Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Wall Street and Office Space, will come to Netflix on July 1, with more films and TV series to be added over the next few years. "We are thrilled to be bringing such favorites as How I Met Your Mother and Glee to our members in Latin America and Brazil," said Jason Ropell, Netflix Vice President of Content Acquisition. "Our partnership with Twentieth Century Fox continues to grow and benefit Netflix members around the world." "Because Latin America is such an important territory for the fan base of our shows, our partnership with Netflix serves as a vital opportunity to link that fan base with the characters and shows that they have come to know and love," said Gina Brogi, EVP of Worldwide Pay Television and Subscription Video on Demand for Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. Netflix launched in 43 countries and territories in Latin America, including Brazil, in September 2011. Since then, the number of movie and TV shows available to watch instantly has more than doubled. Additionally, the number of devices members can use to enjoy Netflix continues to expand in the region and now includes a wide range of game players, Smart TVs, tablets, smart phones and Apple TV. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy Note Ice Cream Sandwich update begins rolling out now! Posted: 10 May 2012 01:01 AM PDT
Samsung has begun quietly rolling out the long-desired Android 4.0 update for the Galaxy Note. When it arrives, it'll add the latest edition of Google's OS and the "Premium Suite" full of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ASUS Zenbook UX32VD unveiled, packs discrete graphics to flaunt that 1080p screen Posted: 10 May 2012 12:47 AM PDT
New high-resolution Zenbooks are on their way, but ASUS has now revealed another addition that's packing its own discrete graphics. Like its recently unveiled siblings, the Zenbook UX32VD still packs a 1920 x 1080 IPS panel and "the latest Intel Core processor" -- likely something from the Ivy Bridge family, although ASUS is keeping schtum on the details for now. Graphical horsepower is delegated to NVIDIA's GT620, while the UX32VD also had a hybrid HDD on show at the event, not the standard SSD -- explaining why this new model is slightly thicker than the UX31A. Alongside a lack of processor specifics, there was no info on prices or release dates at the Taiwan press event but for now, Engadget Chinese have posted their full impressions at the source below. Ultrabook and graphics mavens can hit up the Google translation for a few more details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sony's final 2011 report shows a record net loss, optimism for 2012 Posted: 10 May 2012 12:02 AM PDT
After a slew of bad news and drastically restated projections, Sony has reported the numbers for its full 2011 financial year and as expected, they're not good. The company experienced a record net loss of 456.7 billion yen ($5.73 billion) and an operating loss of 67.3 billion yen. The good news to look forward to however, is that it currently expects an operating profit of 180 billion yen for next year. For the year, it also noted sales of 13.9 million units for the PlayStation 3, 6.8 million PSPs/PS Vitas, 19.6 million LCD TVs and 21 million cameras. Next year, Sony is looking to move 16 million PS3s and 33 million smartphones. New CEO Kaz Hirai has detailed the "One Sony" strategy he hopes will bring the company back to financial health but with its current worth standing at just a fraction of competitors like Samsung and Apple (Reuters pegs it at 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively), the electronics giant has a long, long way to go. Hit the source link below for more dirty financial details, slideshows and spreadsheets. |
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