Monday, May 03, 2010

Does your social media strategy start when disaster strikes (like the Gulf Oil spill for BP)? - http://bit.ly/d9qdgn

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New Numbers about Twitter usage by Arbitron - usage remains light - http://bit.ly/9OBnho

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Sony's 35-inch atracTable to be 'industrialized' in June, show Microsoft how it's done (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/03/sonys-35-inch-atractable-to-be-industrialized-in-june-show-m/

Swiss company Atracsys swims in the same waters as Microsoft's mythical Surface beast -- namely, multitouch horizontal displays -- but where it might differ from its more lauded competitor is in actually bringing its hardware to wider markets. Having sold the tech knowhow to Sony, the company is today informing the world that its atracTable is ready for mass production and commercialization this June. We've been told that prototype designs are now "finished," leaving only the marketing, pricing and distribution details to be worked out. A high-contrast, Full HD screen is promised, which will be able to communicate with your mobile devices (naturally) or respond to motion input picked up by a pair of Sony's camcorders which come built-in. Skip past the break for a couple of video demos from last year.

Continue reading Sony's 35-inch atracTable to be 'industrialized' in June, show Microsoft how it's done (video)

Sony's 35-inch atracTable to be 'industrialized' in June, show Microsoft how it's done (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Social Amplification - Groupon: zero to 3 million uniques in 10 months; Evian Roller-babies 23 million views for FREE - http://bit.ly/aJCwcL

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Inbound marketing (social media, blogs, SEO) costs less than outbound marketing - whoa what a concept! here's proof - http://bit.ly/d4GAvr

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World of Warcraft Running On iPad—Streamed [Ipad]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5529540/world-of-warcraft-running-on-ipadstreamed

World of Warcraft Running On iPad—StreamedYes, you World of Warcraft addicts, it's your favorite game running on the iPad. Sadly, it's not native. It's being streamed from a Gaikai server through Wi-Fi. I wonder if Apple would prohibit this kind of software too.

Gaikai is a game streaming service currently in beta. It would allow you to play games using a Flash client on any desktop and, apparently, a native client on the iPad (or iPhone, I presume). In theory, an application like this would allow any kind of game to be played in the iPhone OS without going through the App Store payment system, something that is not going to make people in Cupertino happy.

However, before reaching that point, the real question is: How the hell do I control WoW with an iPad? I want video now. [Dperry via Macstories]

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NVIDIA VP says 'Moore's law is dead'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/03/nvidia-vp-says-moores-law-is-dead/

NVIDIA and Intel haven't been shy about their differing respective visions of the future of computing in the past year or so, but it looks like Team GPU just upped the rhetoric a little -- a Forbes column by NVIDIA VP Bill Dally argues that "Moore's law is dead." Given that Moore's law is arguably the foundation of Intel's entire business, such a statement is a huge shot across the bow; though other companies like AMD are guided by the doctrine, Intel's relentless pursuit of Gordon Moore's vision has become a focal point and rallying cry for the world's largest chipmaker.

So what's Dally's solution to the death of Moore's law? For everyone to buy into parallel computing, where -- surprise, surprise -- NVIDIA's GPUs thrive. Dally says that dual, quad- and hex-core solutions are inefficient -- he likens multi-core chips to "trying to build an airplane by putting wings on a train," and says that only ground-up parallel solutions designed for energy efficiency will bring back the golden age of doubling performance every two years. That sounds fantastic, but as far as power consumption is concerned, well, perhaps NVIDIA had best lead by example.

NVIDIA VP says 'Moore's law is dead' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 01:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aigo's surprisingly sexy 7-inch N700 tablet packs Android 2.1 and Tegra 2

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/03/aigos-surprisingly-sexy-7-inch-n700-tablet-packs-android-2-1-an/

Go 'head Aigo! Get down with your bad self. Quite frankly, we never anticipated Aigo / Patriot to come through with a me-too tablet that actually made us take a second glance, but darn if this one isn't quite the looker. And that's before you've even had a moment to digest the specifications sheet. According to new details surfacing in China, this 7-inch machine will hum along on a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor and feature NVIDIA's Tegra 2 graphics chipset. There's also 512MB of DDR2 memory, an 800 x 480 pixel multitouch display, 4/16/32GB of inbuilt storage, a USB socket, microSD slot, HDMI output, inbuilt WiFi, optional 3G WWAN, audio in / out and a 3,120mAh battery. Android 2.1 will be the OS of choice, but crucial details surrounding price and availability are sorely missing. Call us crazy, but we'll actually be keeping an eye out for specifics on both.

Aigo's surprisingly sexy 7-inch N700 tablet packs Android 2.1 and Tegra 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 03:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink ChiniTech  |  sourcePC Pop  | Email this | Comments

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Sunday, May 02, 2010

Five Best Password Managers [Hive Five]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5529133/five-best-password-managers

Five Best Password ManagersAs more of our work, play, and business is conducted online it becomes increasingly important to use a diverse set of strong passwords. This week we take a look at the five best password managers to keep your passwords organized.

Photo a composite of images by melodi2 and nintaro.

You can't afford to use the same password for everything nor do many of us have the recall skills to keep dozens and dozens of complex alphanumeric passwords stored in perfect order in our memories. A password manager is the compromise between using a few you can remember and risking forgetting some if you use too many complex passwords. The follow five tools will help you build a strong password set and securely store it so you're never stuck using the same old password for fear of forgetting it.

KeePass (Windows/Mac/Linux/Mobile, Free)

Five Best Password Managers
If you're extra paranoid about security it's tough to go wrong with an open-source solution knowing that you (or the concerned community) can pore over the code. KeePass is open-source, free, and available for everything from a portable Windows installation to a implementation for iPhones, PocketPCs, and Android phones. KeePass supports a variety of features including automatic password generation, field and icon customization, secure notes, and login and password entry through clipboard copying, drag and drop, or auto fill-in. KeePass supports a wide range of import and export formats as well as printing for hard copy backup for secure offline storage. If you're interested in KeePass you'll definitely want to check out our guide to the eight best KeePass plugins and how to sync your KeePass keyring with Dropbox.

Roboform (Windows, Basic: Free/Pro: $29.95)

Five Best Password Managers
RoboForm isn't going to win any awards for a stunning GUI, but it has gathered accolades for ease of use and tight integration with popular web browsers. You can set RoboForm to not only automatically log you into existing services but quickly fill out forms to register for new ones with automatic fill in of names and email addresses. RoboForm included encrypted notes, random password generation, and the ability to print hard copy backups of your password lists for storage in a fire safe or other secure location.

LastPass (Windows/Mac/Linux/Mobile, Basic: Free/Premium: $1/month)

Five Best Password Managers
LastPass is one of the newest password managers on the market but it has quickly gained a following for ease of use, hiccup-free integration across operating systems, browsers, and mobile platforms, and an extremely reasonable premium-model that costs only a $1 a month. Because LastPass is available for every major operating system and phone platform it's difficult to imagine a combination of operating system, web browser, and phone it doesn't cover, meaning you'll use your password manager more. LastPass has gone to extraordinary lengths to cover the bases when it comes to running a web-connected password management service including the ability to use two-layer authentication and setting up one-time use passwords for those times you want to access your online password database but you're not sure if the connection you're on is really secure. For a closer look at LastPass check out our guide here.

SplashID (Windows/Mac/Mobile, Desktop: $19.95/Mobile:$9.95)

Five Best Password ManagersSplashID is a multi-platform password manager. Available on the desktop for Windows and Mac OS X it also syncs to mobile versions on the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and S60 platforms. SplashID uses AES and Blowfish encryption, an automatic password generator, custom icons for entries in your keyring, advanced search, and the ability to sync and securely email your passwords to other SplashID users. SplashID supports heavily customizable entry fields so you can easily make specialized entry types for storage of non-password data (confidential records, bank information, insurance information, and more). SplashID offers a 30 day trial.

1Password (Mac OS X/iPhone, Desktop: $39.95/iPhone:$14.95)

Five Best Password Managers
1Password is a Mac-centric password manager with support for syncing to your iPhone and iPad through through the 1Password mobile suite. Not only can you organize and sync just passwords but also software licences and files—great for storing things like scanned copies of your important documents when traveling. 1Password supports customization of login icons and thumbnails, integration with Evernote and Safari, and a tag-based system for easy login organization. While this is completely irrelevant to the quality of a good password manager in so far as the security of the passwords is concerned it's worth nothing that 1Password sports the most attractive and polished user interface of any password manager we've reviewed.


Now that you've had a chance to look over the top five contenders for the title of best password manager it's time to cast your vote in the poll below:



Which Password Manager Is Best?survey software

Have a favorite tool that wasn't mentioned here or a tip or trick to share about one that was? Let's hear about it in the comments. Have an idea for the next Hive Five? Send us an email at tips@lifehacker.com.

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GeForce GTX 480M Brings Fermi Goodness to Laptops This June [Geforce Gtx 480m]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5529117/geforce-gtx-480m-brings-fermi-goodness-to-laptops-this-june

GeForce GTX 480M Brings Fermi Goodness to Laptops This JuneThe crazy power requirements demanded by the Nvidia GTX 480 would seem to imply it's relegated to desktop land and yet, this rumor exists: A version of this beastly minotaur graphics card could be headed to notebooks in June.

We know this because Eurocom jumped the gun and listed a GeForce GTX 480M option on their web site this week.

While specifics remain light, and this is technically unconfirmed, we can nevertheless glean a few details from the listing. Mainly, power requirements will still be high, in line with the card's existing reputation, and that the card is an option only for the larger 17- and 18.4-inch "desktop replacements" Cheetah, Panther and Leopard (which makes sense).

Again, release—according to Eurocom—is about a month away.

Editor's Note: Pictured is the The $500 GeForce GTX 480, available as of April 12. [Eurocom via Engadget]

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The H.264 Encoding Boom [Formats]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5528936/the-h264-encoding-boom

The H.264 Encoding BoomEarlier this week, Steve Jobs said quite confidently that alternatives like H.264 have already made the lion's share of web video available to devices that don't support Flash. This chart shows why he's probably right.

TechCrunch scored these numbers from Encoding.com, a service that has encoded over 5 million videos in the last year, including those of Brightcove, MTV, and MySpace. At this time last year, 69% of the video they were encoding was in Flash, either VP6 or FLV; now it is only 26% combined. H.264, on the other hand, went from 31% to 66% over the same period. The numbers don't lie.

Unless, of course, the numbers do lie. There's no way to tell how closely Encoding.com's work reflects the internet at large, and this doesn't mean that H.264 video is replacing Flash video, just that it's snuggling up alongside of it. And lest we forget about the games—the precious games! When it comes down to it, Flash's longevity will likely be tied to its use for stuff besides video, and, of course, many of the reasons we said HTML5 isn't going to save the internet still apply.

Still, the president of Encoding.com seems to think his numbers hold true for the greater web, and as TechCrunch points out, with H.264-friendly YouTube accounting for 40% of the internet's video, he might be right. Whether or not these alternatives replace Flash for web video remains to be seen—and won't be clear any time soon—but these numbers show that H.264 could be coming up fast on its heels. [TechCrunch]

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Sony EX3 prototype 3D camcorder spotted, destined for retail channels?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/02/sony-ex3-prototype-3d-camcorder-spotted-destined-for-retail-cha/

Well what do we have here? We've just been handed a picture of what we're told is Sony's EX3 prototype 3D camera, with changeable lenses and a penchant for capturing life in the third dimension. That's unfortunately all we really know at this point, but if this two-eyed beaut does go to market (and we hear that it most certainly will), it looks like Panasonic's 3D camcorder will have some healthy competition. And hey, we're all for having more options.

Sony EX3 prototype 3D camcorder spotted, destined for retail channels? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 00:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia N98 leak validated by N8, is there a QWERTY slider brewing up in Espoo?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/02/nokia-n98-leak-validated-by-n8-is-there-a-qwerty-slider-brewing/

Just gaze upon those curves up above and tell us what they remind you of. Yes indeed, the Nokia N98 -- which seemed so futuristic we were inclined to dismiss it as the product of a hyperactive imagination -- is today looking all too credible thanks to the obvious design similarities it shares with the officially released N8. Starting with the distinctive tapered edges with contrast coloring, moving through the black bezel-sporting display, and jotting down to the positions of the Nokia and N00 logos as well as the Options menu, the viewer can't help but be convinced that this February leak came with no small portion of truthiness to it. Now, we don't live anywhere near Espoo, so we can't tell you whether this was just a precursor to the N8, which lost its physical keyboard and N9x naming scheme to become the beastly media phone we know today. But wouldn't it be lovely to believe Nokia's working on all cylinders and planning to introduce a 4-inch QWERTY variant of its new flagship?

Nokia N98 leak validated by N8, is there a QWERTY slider brewing up in Espoo? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 04:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA GTX 480M will bring Fermi to laptops this June, crazy power requirements and all

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/02/nvidia-gtx-480m-will-bring-fermi-to-laptops-this-june-crazy-pow/

We had an inkling NVIDIA wouldn't keep the Fermi goodness just to the desktop and here's our first pseudo-official confirmation. Rushing in ahead of any announcements, Eurocom has started listing a GeForce GTX 480M part, replete with 2GB of GDDR5 memory and a $345 markup relative to ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 5870. It's not clear whether the 100W number refers to the TDP or power requirements of NVIDIA's new GPU, but it's safe to expect both to be pretty high. The MXM 3.0b interface provides a 256-bit linkup between the GPU and CPU, lending plenty of bandwidth, but it also demands plenty of PCB real estate. As a result, Eurocom is offering the GTX 480M on its 17-inch Cheetah and Panther and 18.4-inch Leopard desktop replacements, but not on its 15.6-inch Cougar. Man, no love for the Cougars. According to the listing, we're only a month or so away from release.

[Thanks, Jacob]

NVIDIA GTX 480M will bring Fermi to laptops this June, crazy power requirements and all originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 06:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Saturday, May 01, 2010

PowerColor HD5970 Eyefinity 12 makes six screens yesterday's news

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/30/powercolor-hd5970-eyefinity-12-makes-six-screens-yesterdays-new/

Alright, so your six-screen Eyefinity rig may not be obsolete just yet, but it's definitely just been knocked down a few notches on the jaw drop-o-meter. What you're looking at above is a prototype of PowerColor's HD5970 Eyefinity 12, which -- you guessed it -- packs twelve Mini DisplayPorts, along with a full 4GB of DDR5 memory. Unfortunately, there's no images or video of an actual twelve-screen rig in action just yet -- PowerColor is saving that for Computex in June -- but you can check out a few more shots of the card itself after the break.

Continue reading PowerColor HD5970 Eyefinity 12 makes six screens yesterday's news

PowerColor HD5970 Eyefinity 12 makes six screens yesterday's news originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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