Saturday, September 21, 2013

Firefox for Windows 8 enters Aurora channel with touch and gesture support

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/21/firefox-for-windows-8-enters-aurora-channel/

Firefox for Windows 8 enters Aurora channel with touch and gesture support

The path to bring Firefox to Windows 8 may be longer than Mozilla had originally anticipated, but the first important milestone to its January arrival is now at hand. Firefox for Windows 8 has graduated into the Aurora (pre-beta) channel, which provides experienced users and tire kickers a more reliable alternative to the previous nightly builds. In this release, the browser includes touch and gesture support, and it even offers up Firefox Sync and Windows Share integration. There's plenty to appreciate on the backend, too, such as WebGL, asm.js and hardware-accelerated HTML5 video. According to Mozilla, it'll focus on improving performance and responsiveness over the coming weeks, which is something to look forward to, if your trial run is less than ideal.

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Source: Mozilla (1), (2)

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drag2share: Apple iPhone 5s's A7 SoC built by Samsung, M7 processor comes from NXP

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/20/apple-iphone-5ss-a7-samsung-m7-nxp/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

Rumors swirled ahead of the iPhone 5s' launch that the silicon inside it would come from a source other than Samsung. Despite signing a deal with TSMC to manufacture future SoC's, Chipworks has confirmed that the A7 powering the new flagship iPhone comes from a familiar place: Samsung's fabrication facilities. Yet, while Apple couldn't cut the tie that binds it to its greatest rival for the main brain of the phone, it did manage to source the secondary M7 chip from NXP. Again, Chipworks discovered the M7's origin, and while we'd love to send you straight there for the nitty gritty now, it appears the site is currently down -- so, iFixit's secondary reporting of Chipworks' work will have to do... for n! ow.

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Friday, September 20, 2013

Article: Expanding camera lens combines insect, human vision

This hybrid approach could give smartphone cameras dynamic focus, and add depth to surgical imaging.

Insects' hemispheric eyes have a wide field of view and high resolution. What if they could be combined with the focusing abilities humans enjoy?

This lens from Ohio State University is a hybr...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57603728-1/expanding-camera-lens-combines-insect-human-vision/

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Article: Meet the newest cord cutters: college campuses

TV isn't coming back to school at Northwestern University this fall: The college decided earlier this year that it was going to turn off its campus-wide television service over the summer. "The decision to discontinue NUTV was the result of many factors including demonstrated non-use by our stude...

http://gigaom.com/2013/09/20/universities-tv-netflix-tivli/

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Hackers Mistake NASA For NSA, Take Down Wrong Home Page

Source: http://gizmodo.com/hackers-mistake-nasa-for-nsa-take-down-wrong-home-page-1350457603

Hackers Mistake NASA For NSA, Take Down Wrong Home Page

We're a little late to this party, but it's too fun not to share. Last week, a group of Brazilian hackers decided to get the NSA back for all its spying with a big huge cyberattack. And hack they did! The only problem is that they mixed up their acronyms, and hit NASA instead.

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Thursday, September 19, 2013

LG G2 Review: A Braindead Hercules

Source: http://gizmodo.com/lg-g2-review-a-braindead-hercules-1349343131

LG G2 Review: A Braindead Hercules

You could put a helicopter engine on a motorcycle and fill it with rocket fuel, but if you put a toddler behind the wheel, it's not going anywhere. The same is true with phones; you can turbo-charge the processors and hardware, but if the software is stupid and terrible, you've got a stupid and terrible phone on your hands. This is that phone.

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HP SlateBook x2 review: HP takes on ASUS with a dockable Android tablet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/19/hp-slatebook-x2-review/

HP SlateBook x2 review: HP takes on ASUS with a dockable Android tablet

Until now, ASUS hasn't had much competition in dockable Android tablets. Sure, we've seen the odd model from Lenovo and other companies, but for the most part, "Transformer" has become one of those words like "Kleenex" -- you know, the kind that refers just as much to a category as a specific brand. Nonetheless, HP is throwing its hat in the ring. The SlateBook x2, only the company's second Android tablet, is a 10-inch slate that competes on price as much as performance. For $480, the keyboard dock comes included, and the tablet itself boasts some top-notch specs, including a 1,920 x 1,080 screen and a Tegra 4 processor. And, of course, in addition to being a keyboard, that dock has a built-in battery of its own, promising to extend the total runtime to up to 12.5 hours. So is it good enough that you'll remember not to call it a Transformer?%Gallery-slideshow88713%

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Google makes its Quickoffice app free for both Android and iOS users

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/19/google-makes-its-quickoffice-app-free-for-both-android-and-ios/

Google makes its Quickoffice app free for both Android and iOS users

Less than two weeks after Apple decided to make iWork free for new iOS devices, Google went and did us one better: it's offering its Quickoffice suite for free, to both Android and iOS users. If you recall, the apps have actually already been free to Google Apps subscribers, specifically, but now the offer applies to anyone, regardless of when they activated their device or what OS version they're using. As an added incentive, if you sign in to your Google Account from the Quickoffice app by September 26, 2013, you get 10 gigs of extra storage space for two years. And that's all there is to it. Hit up the source link for more details, if you need them, or else find the app on Google Play or the App Store.

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Source: Google (Google+), Google Play, iTunes

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HP lays claim to the first fanless Haswell PC and the first Leap Motion laptop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/19/hp-envy-17-leap-motion-edition-spectre-13-x2/

HP lays claim to the first fanless Haswell PC and the first Leap Motion laptop

What do a fanless PC and a motion-controlled laptop have in common? Nothing, really; just that HP is going to be first to market with both of these things. After teasing a fanless tablet back in June, the company has formally announced the Spectre 13 x2, which isn't actually a tablet so much as a hybrid laptop. Additionally, HP unveiled a special edition version of its Envy 17 notebook with a Leap Motion controller built into the palm rest.

Starting with the Leap Motion machine, this is truly the same Envy 17 that's already on the market, complete with an aluminum chassis, backlit keyboard and generous Beats branding. Except, you know, it has a conspicuous motion sensor below the keyboard, allowing you to control games and other apps using hand gestures. Per Leap Motion's requirements, HP includes a shortcut to Leap Motion's Airspace Store, where there are currently 100-plus apps and counting. (If you read our review, you know the selection is hit or miss.) Once you calibrate the sensor, you can turn the controller off by pressing the spacebar plus the Fn key; a small LED indicator will light up to let you know when it's on. Surprisingly, too, that the sensor doesn't add to the thickness of the laptop, as the module only measures 3.5mm thick (granted, a 17-inch machine probably has plenty of leeway inside the chassis). Look for it October 16th, with a starting price of $1,049.99 and your choice of Intel processors and NVIDIA graphics.%Gallery-slideshow88784%

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Article: Small, Stackable And Cheap, Microduino Puts ‘Arduino In Your Pocket’

Microduino Studio wants to make Arduino more accessible by creating a smaller, flexible and cheaper hardware addition to the prototyping platform. All Arduino-compatible boards and extension modules created by Microduino are about the size of a quarter and stackable, which makes it easy to build ...

http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/16/small-stackable-and-cheap-microduino-puts-arduino-in-your-pocket/

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Article: HP packs cool tech into its fall line-up of tablets and laptops

Hewlett-Packard is unveiling a bunch of fall consumer PCs today with a variety of bells and whistles, including its first consumer laptop with integrated gesture controls from Leap Motion.

The machines reflect more creative designs that are aimed at bringing back the mojo to personal computers ...

http://venturebeat.com/2013/09/19/hp-packs-leap-motion-and-other-cool-tech-into-its-consumer-pc-line-up/

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drag2share: Bloomberg: Staples and RadioShack remove Amazon lockers from stores

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/staples-radioshack-remove-amazon-lockers/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

Staples and RadioShack withdraw Amazon lockers from stores

Perhaps placing Amazon lockers right within the confines of a couple of its toughest competitors might not have been such a great idea after all. Several months ago, Staples and RadioShack agreed to add the online retailer's lockers inside a few brick and mortar locations so that Amazon customers could choose to pick up their goods at the store instead of missing a delivery, with the host retailer getting a small fee in exchange. According to Bloomberg however, Staples and RadioShack have now decided to yank the lockers from their stores. Staples claimed the Amazon deal "didn't meet the criteria" that was set up, while RadioShack stated that the lockers "didn't fit with its strategy." We can't say we're terribly surprised to see the rivals part ways, but hey, at least you can still find an Amazon locker in select 7-Elevens.

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Nikon's AW1 is the world's first waterproof interchangeable-lens digital camera (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/19/nikon-aw1/

Nikon's AW1 is the world's first waterproof interchangeablelens camera hands on

Have any interest in bringing an interchangeable-lens camera along on your next snorkeling adventure? You could pick up a pricey DSLR housing, sure, but you might want to consider Nikon's new 1-Series AW1, the first digital device of its kind to score an integrated waterproof enclosure. An O-ring combines with a regular bayonet lens fitting to create a reassuringly tough seal that will survive down to a depth of 49 feet, at the expense of requiring just a little bit more time and physical effort to swap lenses. You'll need to re-surface before attempting that, of course, and you'll also have to make sure you're using one of just two waterproof pieces of glass: either a 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6, which comes as part of the kit, or a wide 10mm f/2.8 lens that is sold separately. Regular 1-series lenses will still fit on the AW1, courtesy of a little accessory, but they won't offer any of the ruggedness of the dedicated pair -- which means you'll miss out on the water-proofing, dust-proofing, freeze-proofing (to 14-degrees Fahrenheit) and shock-proofing (from a maximum drop of 6.6 feet).

Internally, the AW1 is similar to the CES-era J3. There's the same 14.2-megapixel CX-format sensor and 6400 top ISO, along with 1080p video capture, but the new model adds thrill-seeker essentials like an altimeter, depth gauge, GPS, compass and an accelerometer-powered option for switching modes with one hand. Finally, at risks of startling the little fishes, there's also pop-up flash that works underwater. All this will set you back $800 with the 11-27.5mm lens, when the AW1 ships next month, while the 10mm f/2.8 will be $200 more. Oh, and check out the hands-on video after the break to see how the AW1 fares in our own, hastily compiled durability test.

Update: As some particularly knowledgeable readers have spotted, the AW1 is the first digital waterproof ILC, but not the first if you count the celluloid Nikonos series. Thanks guys -- the post has been tweaked.%Gallery-slideshow85051%%Gallery-slideshow88714%

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drag2share: New Internet Explorer Is 30% Faster Than Other Browsers, Microsoft Says (MSFT)

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/2KMVXEOm1Ms/ie-11-is-30-faster-microsoft-says-2013-9

Internet Explorer 11

Despite the gains made by Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, Internet Explorer is still the most popular web browser and Microsoft hopes to keep it that way.

To that end, Microsoft on Wednesday released a "preview version" of the next incarnation of the browser for Windows 7, IE 11. Microsoft says IE 11 runs 30% faster than other browsers, according to benchmark tests.

This browser has many of the features of the IE for Windows 8.1. For instance, it supports multi-touch gestures. While there's scant few Windows 7 touch PCs out there, this will be helpful for enterprises buying new Windows 8 touch PCs and "downgrading" the operating system to Windows 7, which their enterprise licenses allows them to do.

The browser has some new features for developers, too, like support for something called F12 developer tools, which helps Web developers analyze their HTML code. Plus, it supports a Web standard called WebGL for 3D graphics.

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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Verizon speaks out on Nexus 7 LTE activation, expects it will be certified 'shortly'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/verizon-nexus-7-lte-certification/

Despite the wide LTE support featured on the Nexus 7 2013's cellular modem-equipped model, early buyers have found Verizon won't activate it for a new line on the Big Red Network. The company responded officially on the matter today, explaining that its 4 - 6 week certification process must be completed first. The process apparently began in August, and spokesperson Debi Lewis said the company expects that to happen "shortly." The whole process is actually laid out on Verizon's website and shows how the testing is undertaken by a third party lab of the manufacturer's choosing -- feel free to read through it during the days / weeks your new Nexus 7 isn't connecting to LTE.

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Source: Verizon Wireless

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Sharp's 70-inch, THX-certified Aquos Ultra 4K TV goes on sale in the US for $7,500

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/sharp-70-inch-aquos-4k-tv-usa/

Sharp's 70inch, THXcertified Aquos Ultra 4K TV goes on sale in the US for $7,500

We are well past mid-August, which is when Sharp initially estimated its new 70-inch Aquos 4K Ultra HD LED TV would begin hitting shelves. Despite the late arrival, however, something tells us folks will still be glad to have yet another choice when shopping for their next 4K television set. To make things better, Sharp's super high-res, THX-certified Smart TV is set to be carrying a $7,499.99 MSRP here in the States, making it about $500 cheaper than when it was originally announced. Those of you interested shouldn't have trouble finding one, as Sharp says it'll be available at many regional and major retailers across the country.

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Source: Sharp

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Kogan debuts second Agora smartphone: 5-inch 720p display, 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, Jelly Bean, $189

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/kogan-agora-smartphone-mark-ii/

DNP Kogan outs next Agora smartphone 5inch 720p display, 12GHz quadcore CPU, Jelly Bean, $189

Kogan's Agora brand may not drive techies wild like Galaxies or iThings do, but its motto is clear: try to deliver reasonable hardware at the lowest possible price. The company's first bid for a piece of the smartphone pie launched earlier this year, and today we're learning of its sequel. Design-wise, this second Agora handset is a little curvier than the last, with a soft key replacing its predecessor's physical home button. A 5-inch, 720p IPS LCD display occupies the face, and inside we're looking at a 1.2GHz quad-core MT6589 Mediatek SoC (Cortex-A7), 1GB of RAM and 4 gigs of internal storage, expandable with up to 32GB cards of the microSD variety. It runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, hosts two SIM slots, an 8-megapixel main camera, 2-megapixel front-facer, 2,000mAh removable battery and 3G (850 / 1900 / 2100), WiFi (802.11b/g/n) and Bluetooth 4.0 antennae.

Most importantly, it costs $189, £149 or 199 Aussie dollars -- it's up for order now at the relevant source links and is expected to ship to the US, Australia, the UK and other European countries, as well as a couple of Asian markets starting October 3rd. We're hoping to get a review unit through soon, so keep an eye out over the coming weeks for our impressions. In our opinion, anything that rings up at under $200 is worth a fair trial.

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Source: Kogan (UK), (Aus), (US & elsewhere)

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drag2share: DOLLAR TANKS, RATES COLLAPSE, STOCKS EXPLODE TO ALL-TIME HIGHS

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/-i4fAFOzMw0/markets-react-to-fomc-2013-9

The Federal Reserve's FOMC statement is out, and it's a shocker!

The Fed is NOT TAPERING its massive $85 billion large-scale asset purchase program.

Almost no one expected this.

The Dow went from -40 to +63 in the blink of an eye.

The S&P 500 got as high as 1,718, which is an all-time intraday high.

The U.S. dollar tanked, and gold spiked.

The 10-year Treasury note yield tanked to 2.76% from around 2.86% before the announcement.

Here's the market action charted via Bloomberg's Michael McDonough:

market chart

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drag2share: Bloomingdale's Figured Out How To Stop Customers From Wearing Expensive Items Once And Returning Them The Next Day

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/loWWyIG0qFA/bloomingdales-black-tags-on-clothes-2013-9

strapless dresses school dance

Bloomingdale's has figured out a way to keep customers from wearing expensive items for big events and returning them the next day. 

The retailer is putting three-inch black plastic tags in visible places on garments so the wearer can't easily conceal them, report Cotten Timberlake and Renee Dudley at Bloomberg. Once the clunky tag is removed, shoppers aren't allowed to return the item. 

The practice of buying an item with the intention of wearing it once and returning it is called "wardrobing." 

Shoppers are notorious for "wardrobing" for big-ticket items like prom dresses and other formalwear. 

The problem cost the industry $8.8 billion last year, according to the National Retail Federation

But Nordstrom told Bloomberg that it didn't plan on emulating Bloomingdale's strategy. 

“Our experience is that if you treat the customer with respect, they respect you back,” spokesman Colin Johnson said.

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Sony Cyber-shot QX10 review: a WiFi 'lens camera' that mounts directly on your smartphone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/sony-qx10-review/

DNP Sony Cybershot QX10 review a WiFi 'lens camera' that mounts directly on your smartphone

Earlier this month at IFA, Sony introduced an entirely new type of point-and-shoot camera. The QX10 and its big brother, the QX100, are missing a built-in LCD. Instead, framing, image review, configuration and even storage are all handled on another device: your smartphone. These "lens cameras," as they've become unofficially known, mount directly on a handset you already own, pairing with Sony's PlayMemories Mobile app via WiFi. The benefits are considerable. The absence of a display allows for a more compact body, improved power efficiency and a lower price tag. The QX100, for example, includes the same optics as Sony's flagship RX100 Mark II, but retails for $500, compared to $750 for its fully equipped counterpart. The QX10 is the more mainstream of the two, with a smaller footprint and an affordable $250 price tag. We focus on this model just below.%Gallery-slideshow85039%

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iTunes Radio now rolling out in iTunes 11.1 update, brings Spotify-like streaming to the desktop

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/itunes-radio-now-rolling-out-in-itunes-11-1-update/

iTunes Radio now rolling out in iTunes 111 update, brings Spotifylike streaming to the desktop

The release of iOS 7 is undoubtedly the big Apple news of the day, but there's another new product rolling out with it as well: iTunes Radio. The Spotify-like feature, which was announced during Apple's iPhone event last week, is part of the new iTunes 11.1 and allows users to create custom radio stations based on their personal music libraries or musical proclivities (e.g., genre, artists, track, etc.). Naturally, the service, like its competitors, is freemium, so you'll have to pony up $25/year for iTunes Match in order to keep the hits coming sans advertisements. The update should be hitting all Macs running OS X 10.6.8 and up now, so while you're frantically hitting refresh on that iOS update, you may as well check for this -- or head to the source below for the download link.

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Source: Apple

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PiCon Gives You Easy Control Over Your Raspberry Pi

Source: http://lifehacker.com/picon-gives-you-easy-control-over-your-raspberry-pi-1333823088

PiCon Gives You Easy Control Over Your Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi has all kinds of setting hidden away inside its configuration file. If you don't want to mess about with that, PiCon is a program that allows you to easily set up your Pi without mucking around in the config.txt file.

PiCon is cross-platform and it simply creates a config.txt file that you can save to your Raspberry Pi. It's packed with all kinds of options for the Raspberry Pi, including forcing HDMI, changing aspect ratio, rotating the screen, and more. You can do all this stuff from the command line on the Pi if you want, but PiCon makes it easy to see all your options in one place. After you create the file, just upload it to your Raspberry Pi and you're all set.

PiCon, the Raspberry Pi Configuration Manager | Raspberry Pi Forums via Make

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Four of America's Tallest Buildings Are Being Built on the Same Street

Source: http://gizmodo.com/four-of-americas-tallest-buildings-are-being-built-on-1327172554

Four of America's Tallest Buildings Are Being Built on the Same Street

While most of the supertall building boom spotlight has been placed China and the UAE over the past few months, there's an even more staggering development happening much, much closer to home. At least four 1,000-foot-plus skyscrapers are set to rise along (or adjacent to) West 57th Street over the next few years, each of the tall enough to change America's skyline forever.

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LG Vu 3 teased with semi-transparent QuickView case, expected to launch in October

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/lg-vu-3/

LG Vu 3 teased with semitransparent QuickView case, expected to launch in October

LG's oddly shaped Optimus Vu II is slated for an update next month, according to Korean site ETNews. The 4:3 large-format device, dubbed simply Vu 3 (LG has dropped the Optimus branding from flagship devices), has also appeared on an LG microsite, which serves to both confirm the handset's existence and tease a pair of semi-transparent QuickView cases. The phone covers, available in black or gray, appear to feature a see-through design, enabling some pretty spiffy animated notifications. As for the phone itself, you can expect a Snapdragon 800 chipset, a 13-megapixel rear camera and LTE-Advanced support. It's slated to hit KT Telecom, SK Telecom and LG U+ in Korea in the coming months.

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Source: LG, ETNews

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drag2share: The Prettiest Way to Find Out What iOS 7 Features Your iPhone Won't Get

source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/vip/~3/XB8IYAkA0ao/the-prettiest-way-to-find-out-what-ios-7-features-your-512905905

The Prettiest Way to Find Out What iOS 7 Features Your iPhone Won't Get

iOS 7 looks lovely, but it's not all about appearances; the new operating system is bringing some nice new features as well. But even if you get the upgrade, you might not get all the fun stuff that comes with it.

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JBL's New Headphones Use Pro DSP to Sound Like a Live Performance

Source: http://gizmodo.com/jbls-new-headphones-use-pro-dsp-to-sound-like-a-live-p-1340920315

JBL's New Headphones Use Pro DSP to Sound Like a Live Performance

JBL's new line of Synchros headphones use proprietary digital signal processing (DSP) that supposedly leverages the company's experience with professional gear to make the speakers hanging off your head sound like the musicians are on stage in front of you.

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drag2share: NVIDIA Tegra Note: the Tegra 4-powered, stylus-endowed tablets arrive next month starting at $199

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/nvidia-unveils-tegra-note-tablet-platform/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

NVIDIA unveils Tegra Note a Tegra 4powered, stylusready tablet platform for October availability

As a follow to NVIDIA's Tegra 3 reference design for tablets, the company is now unveiling a more ambitious platform known as Tegra Note that leverages the Tegra 4, supports stylus input and provides new multimedia features. Like Project Kai, tablets based on the Tegra Note platform carry a suggested retail price of $199, but pricing is ultimately up to NVIDIA's manufacturing partners and their various hardware configurations.

If this all sounds a bit familiar to you, it should. We first saw signs of NVIDIA's new tablet platform when it appeared as the Tegra Tab at the FCC, and then again in subsequent leaks. Manufacturers can easily apply their name to the reference enclosure, which houses front-facing speakers, a 7-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS display and a VGA webcam. Naturally, you're also getting the Tegra 4 SoC, which includes a quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU, a 72-core GeForce GPU and advanced imaging features under the Chimera architecture. Other specs will depend on manufacturers, which could include a 5-megapixel rear camera, a microSD slot, a micro-HDMI port and a built-in stylus that offers both chisel and brush tips.

Along with the hardware reference design, NVIDIA is also including Camera Awesome from SmugMug and TegraZone in the Tegra Note platform (along with stylus-enabled apps on appropriate models), and it's even managing the Android system updates. You can expect the first of these Tegra Note tablets to hit shelves in October from the likes of EVGA, PNY and ZOTAC, along with a full line of accessories that include covers and interchangeable stylus tips.

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How To Switch Off Apple's iPhone Tracking System In iOS 7 (AAPL)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-switch-off-idfa-iphone-tracking-in-ios-7-2013-6

angry iphone sad woman question

Apple introduced a couple of new things for advertisers in its upcoming iPhone operating system update, iOS 7.

First, it forced more advertisers to use its iPhone tracking system, IDFA (sometimes called IFA), which stands for ID for Advertisers.

Second, it rearranged the settings on your iPhone so that it's actually easier to switch off the tracking if you don't want advertisers to get your personal data.

Most people don't even know their iPhones track what they do and send that data to advertisers. And Apple makes the iPhone and iOS 7 with tracking in a default "on" position.

If you want to switch it off, here's what you have to do.

Go to the settings app on your iPhone. Now tap on the section labeled "Privacy." (This is actually a big change for Apple. In iOS 6, the tracking options were not under "Privacy," they were under "General" — where most people were unlikely to see them.)

Next tap on the section labeled "Advertising."

This brings up the "Limit Ad Tracking" option. Move the slider button to "on." Yes, it's confusing: To switch ad tracking off, you have to move the "Limit Ad Tracking" to on. Advertisers love this counterintuitive mechanism because most people either don't touch it — in which case tracking is on by default — or they get the on/off decision wrong, leaving the tracking on when they've switched it to off.

Here's a visual walk-through.

1. Go to Settings and hit "Privacy":

IDFA ios 7

2. Next tap on "Advertising":

IDFA ios 7

3. Finally, switch "Limit Ad Tracking" to the "on" position:

IDFA ios 7

SEE ALSO: Apple Wants More Advertisers To Use Its iPhone Tracking System

SEE ALSO: Apple Has Quietly Started Tracking iPhone Users Again, And It's Tricky To Opt Out

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drag2share: iPhone 5s review

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/iphone-5s-review/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

iPhone 5s review

Forward-thinking. It's ironic that Apple's marketing slogan for the iPhone 5s invites us to look ahead to the future when, from the outside, the device looks like a carbon copy of last year's model, the iPhone 5. But just like any other odd-year iPhone -- the "S" version, if you will -- the 5s plays the Transformers card by offering more than meets the eye, with a few key improvements on the inside.

Though it's easy to dismiss this handset as iterative, the 5s is the first smartphone with full 64-bit support and a capacitive fingerprint sensor, and it also ships with a fresh, revamped version of iOS. This might not matter to folks who were content with the status quo, but it matters a lot to Apple -- and to the company's future as well -- especially if the company wants to fend off an increasingly fierce pack of competitors. But is a "forward-thinking" phone worth the investment today? %Gallery-slideshow85056%

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drag2share: Google invites iOS users to experience data compression with Chrome

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/google-ios-chrome-data-compression/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

Google invites iOS users to experience data compression with Chrome

Like it or not, thinking about every megabyte is essential for smartphone owners hoping to keep their monthly usage from topping whatever tier they've purchased. The nasty, unbecoming world of data caps isn't changing in the near-term, and Google knows it. Following in the footsteps of Opera, the outfit's Chrome browser for iOS is evidently equipped with a data compression feature that's engineered to save precious bytes when browsing via mobile. This technology has existed for some time, but it's just now being rolled out en masse to those with an iPhone. We're told that it "compresses and minimizes HTML, JavaScript and CSS resources, removing unnecessary whitespace, comments and other metadata not essential to rendering the pages," which can reduce data usage by up to 50 percent on certain sites. So, Apple -- thinking about tossing something similar under the hood of Mobile Safari?

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drag2share: Tesla's 'autopilot' car project targets 90 percent of miles driven, three years from now

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/teslas-autopilot-car-project-targets-90-percent-of-miles-driv/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has discussed the company's ambitions to build a self-driving car on more than one occasion, and now he's revealed a bit more about its plans. After reports today about a job listing for an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems Controls Engineer, he spoke to the Financial Times and confirmed the company is working on a form of autopilot in-house. Expressing his opinion that fully autonomous cars may be a bit too difficult to achieve right now, he said Tesla "should be able to do 90 per cent of miles driven within three years." Other major car companies -- Mercedes, GM, Volvo and Continental, just to name a few -- have projects for either full or partial car self-control, but they're still under development for reasons both technical and legal. Also hanging in the balance is Google's autonomous car project, although from Musk's statements it appears Tesla h as decided to go its own way on the technology. The three year target is an ambitious one, but we'll put this one somewhere between Iron Man and Hyperloop on the Musk scale.

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Zoho Docs for desktop syncs files on your PC with the cloud, brings offline editing

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/zoho-docs-for-desktop/

DNP Zoho docs for desktop

You've likely been taking advantage of Zoho's mobile apps and the service's Google Drive integration if you use its office suite. Well, now the company has also released a Zoho Docs for desktop client that syncs files saved on its cloud with a Mac, Windows or Linux computer. It also works in reverse, so files saved on your PC will sync with the cloud -- even documents edited offline, now that the feature's been added, will sync once you connect to the internet. While you can cherry-pick folders to synchronize, it's also possible to set up the client to update all your Zoho documents in all connected devices simultaneously. That includes workspaces you share with teammates, which instantly reflect the changes anyone in the group makes. We're sure faithful Google Drive users won't even bat an eyelash at this update, but those who still use Zoho Docs extensively can click the source link to download the client for free.

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Source: Zoho Blog, Zoho Support

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YouTube's mobile apps will add true offline viewing in November

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/youtube-mobile-apps-offline-viewing-november/

YouTube's Android app added the ability to watch precached videos (while still online) last summer, but Google's video streaming unit isn't stopping there. A post tonight on its Partners & Creators informed video makers that viewing of stored videos with no internet connection is coming soon. According to the blog the feature is coming to its mobile apps -- following up on the recent updates on Android and iOS -- in November, and will let viewers store videos for disconnected viewing for a "short time." We don't know if that consists of minutes, hours or days at a time but we'll keep an eye out for more details -- perhaps this is what the team that used to work on video responses has been up to.

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Source: YouTube Creators Blog

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BlackBerry Z30 official: 5-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro, 2,880mAh battery and BB 10.2

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/blackberry-z30-official/

DNP BlackBerry

If you were paying attention to the late summer leaks, then the BlackBerry above won't strike you as a surprise. That's because it's the newly announced BlackBerry Z30, the official successor to the all-touch Z10, and it matches up quite closely to what we've already seen. The Z30 is the company's first smartphone to ship with version 10.2 of the BB 10 OS (yes, the naming scheme is a bit confusing) and arrives with a larger 5-inch, 1,280 x 720 Super AMOLED display. The device's pixel density of 295ppi may pale in comparison to the more diminutive Z10's 356ppi, but its internals are a different matter.

The Z30 takes a modest spec step up with a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro (paired with 2GB RAM) and Adreno 320 GPU, putting its performance somewhat on par with the Nexus 4 and Moto X (sans the X8). There's also a beefier 2,880mAh battery inside, which the company claims is a first for its product line and, this time around, it's integrated (read: non-removable). In terms of dimensions, the Z30 comes in with nearly the same silhouette as its predecessor (9.4mm vs 9.3mm), but is substantially taller and wider at 140.7mm x 72mm owing to that 5-inch display. Internal storage remains at 16GB, but users will have the option of augmenting that via microSD. And, as for radios, the Z30 will support 4G LTE (exact bands haven't been specified), dual-band WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. The Z30's camera setup appears mostly similar to the Z10's, with a 2-megapixel front facer capable of 720p video and an 8-megapixel rear module with an f2.2 lens that captures video in 1080p. %Gallery-slideshow85069%

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drag2share: 'Infinity Blade III' hits the App Store ahead of iOS 7 release

source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/18/infinity-blade-iii-available-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget&ncid=rss_semi

'Infinity Blade III' hits the App Store ahead of iOS 7 launch

After almost a two-year wait, a new Infinity Blade game has hit the App Store. Chair Entertainment's Infinity Blade III ($6.99/£4.99), the third and final chapter in the Apple-exclusive trilogy, has been designed to get the most from the iPhone 5s' new 64-bit architecture. Available as a universal app (supported by devices running iOS 6.0 and up), the game features new rendering effects, including depth of field, blur and full-screen vignettes, utilizing the same tap-to-move controls from the previous two instalments. If the cancelation of Infinity Blade Dungeons left a dragon-shaped hole in ! your lif e, today's release might just fill it until the next season of Game of Thrones.

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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Here's The 'Star Trek Command Center' That NSA Chief Keith Alexander Used To Woo Politicians

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-army-star-trek-command-center-2013-9

star trek nsa

An extensive profile of NSA Chief Keith Alexander by Shane Harris of Foreign Policy mentions an "Information Dominance Center" in Fort Belvoir, Virginia that was designed to look like the 'Starship Enterprise' spacecraft from Star Trek.

As commanding general of U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) from 2001 to 2003, Alexander oversaw the Trekkie setup and used it to woo policymakers

From Foreign Policy:

... Alexander brought many of his future allies down to Fort Belvoir for a tour of his base of operations, a facility known as the Information Dominance Center. It had been designed by a Hollywood set designer to mimic the bridge of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek, complete with chrome panels, computer stations, a huge TV monitor on the forward wall, and doors that made a "whoosh" sound when they slid open and closed. Lawmakers and other important officials took turns sitting in a leather "captain's chair" in the center of the room and watched as Alexander, a lover of science-fiction movies, showed off his data tools on the big screen.

"Everybody wanted to sit in the chair at least once to pretend he was Jean-Luc Pic! ard, " says a retired officer in charge of VIP visits.

Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian found what appears to be photographs of the 10,740 square foot headquarters on the website of DBI Architects, Inc. (which is "currently experiencing a high volume of traffic"). 

The brochure reportedly boasts that "the prominently positioned chair provides the commanding officer an uninterrupted field of vision to a 22'-0" wide projection screen."

star terk nsa

SEE ALSO: An Obscure 'Evil Genius' Engineer Was Instrumental To the NSA's Expansion

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