Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Sony's Action Cam prototype is incredibly small, we go fingers-on at CE Week in NYC

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/27/sonys-action-cam-hands-on/

CE Week isn't typically a venue for major product introductions, then again neither is Sony's blog. Last night, we got a sneak peek at the company's new Action Cam on the aforementioned site, and this morning the Japanese manufacturer dropped the black curtain on what appears to be the very same prototypes used in yesterday's tease. We almost missed it at Sony's pint-sized booth at the annual week-long CEA event in New York City -- the camera, which has yet to get an official name and model number assignment from Tokyo, is massively smaller than yesterday's snaps may have implied. The adventure shooter is hidden behind glass, but we did manage to pull it out for a brief inspection, and boy is it tiny.

A variety of mounts were on hand to demonstrate the shooter's versatility, including a handlebar attachment, helmet holster and some sort of plastic enclosure that could presumably be used to shield the Action Cam from underwater hazards, though Sony declined to confirm. Specification details are also quite spotty at the moment, but we were able to confirm that there will be an Exmor R CMOS image sensor and a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens on board. Things seem to be quite limited on the controls front, with simple navigation buttons, a Start/Stop toggle, a tiny LCD and stereo mics up front representing the entire bounty of I/O offerings. There also appears to be SD and Memory Stick storage on board, based on familiar logos printed on the jet-black housing. For now, that's all she wrote --! we expe ct more details as we approach the Action Cam's official launch in the fall. Flip through the gallery below for a closer look.

Gallery: Sony Action Cam prototype hands-on

Sony's Action Cam prototype is incredibly small, we go fingers-on at CE Week in NYC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 10:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer launches 11.6-inch Sandy Bridge TravelMate B113

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/27/acer-launches-11-6-inch-sandy-bridge-travelmate-b113/

4GB of RAM, half a TB of storage, Sandy Bridge and an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 panel starting at €450 (about $563), sounds like a pretty sweet deal on a last-gen ultrabook right? Well, Acer's TravelMate B1113 is actually brand new and, as you dig a little deeper into the specs, this one sounds more like a rather hefty netbook. And we do mean hefty -- this laptop apparently tips the scales at 1.88 Kg, which puts it a touch over the four pound mark. 4.1 pounds certainly isn't shoulder busting, but it's a solid half a pound more than you'd expect from a machine of this size. Then there's the fact that the base model ships with a 1.4Ghz Celeron, and the top shelf €560 version (roughly $700) only sports a 1.5GHz Core i3. We haven't been able to dig up the dimensions on this sucker, but the press pics don't make it look particularly bulky. We can only assume, given its considerable weight and diminutive size, that the chassis is made of cast iron. On the plus side, it does have a matte screen... that's gotta count for something, right?

Acer launches 11.6-inch Sandy Bridge TravelMate B113 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers partially automate CPU core design, aim to fast track new PC processor production

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/27/researchers-partially-automate-cpu-core-design/

Tired of the year wait (or more) in between new silicon architecture offerings from Chipzilla and AMD? Well, if some Wolfpack researchers have anything to say about it, we'll measure that wait in months thanks to a new CPU core design tool that automates part of the process. Creating a new CPU core is, on a high level, a two step procedure. First, the architectural specification is created, which sets the core's dimensions and arranges its components. That requires some heavy intellectual lifting, and involves teams of engineers to complete. Previously, similar manpower was needed for the second step, where the architecture spec is translated into an implementation design that can be fabricated in a factory. No longer. The aforementioned NC State boffins have come up with a tool that allows engineers to input their architecture specification, and it generates an implementation design that's used to draw up manufacturing blueprints. The result? Considerable time and manpower savings in creating newly designed CPU cores, which means that all those leaked roadmaps we're so fond of could be in serious need of revision sometime soon.

Researchers partially automate CPU core design, aim to fast track n! ew PC pr ocessor production originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/27/mediatek-mt6577-pushes-dual-core-android-4-smartphones-under-200/

It isn't hard to get an Android 4.0 phone under $200 if you're willing to sign your life away with a contract. Getting one that's worthwhile at that same figure contract-free, however, requires some jumping through hoops. MediaTek must be an acrobat, as it just released the MT6577, a chip design for the most entry level of smartphones. The part's frugal focus doesn't keep it from stuffing in a dual-core, 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, a PowerVR SGX series 5 for graphics and an HSPA modem for 3G. Those specifications would only have been cutting-edge in 2011, but they're very speedy for a starter device in 2012 -- fast enough to drive Google's OS on a 720p screen while supporting 1080p video. The MT6577 is a drop-in replacement for its MT6575 ancestor, and it's accordingly going to be used very quickly by "leading global customers" this summer. Knowing MediaTek's most recent clients, that could soon lead to a sea of very affordable phones from Gigabyte, ZTE and others that have no problems eating an Ice Cream Sandwich.

Continue reading MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free

MediaTek MT6577 helps push dual-core Android 4.0 smartphones under $200 contract-free originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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UCLA researchers develop nanoscale microwave oscillators, promise better and cheaper mobile devices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/27/ucla-researchers-develop-nanoscale-microwave-oscillators/

At a size of just 100 nanometers, it may not be much to look at, but a new type of microwave oscillator developed by researchers at UCLA could open the door to mobile communication devices that are smaller, cheaper and more efficient. As PhysOrg reports, unlike traditional silicon-based oscillators (the bit of a device that produces radio-frequency signals), these new oscillators rely on the spin of an electron rather than its charge to create microwaves -- a change that apparently bring with it a host of benefits. That includes a boost in signal quality, and a dramatic reduction in size. The new nanoscale system is fully 10,000 times smaller than current silicon-based oscillators, and can even be incorporated into existing chips without a big change in manufacturing processes. As with most such developments, however, it remains to be seen when we'll actually see it put into practice.

UCLA researchers develop nanoscale microwave oscillators, promise better and cheaper mobile devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 05:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pew survey finds that 17 percent of US cellphone users go online mostly on their phones

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/27/pew-survey-finds-that-17-percent-of-us-cellphone-users-go-online/

It should hardly come as a surprise that folks are spending more and more of their time online on their cellphones, but a new Pew study released today has shed a bit more light on just how common that's becoming. According to the research group, 17 percent of all cellphone users (including those without smartphones) go online "mostly" on their cellphone, while 33 percent primarily use another device, and five percent use both equally -- a hefty 45 percent still don't use their phones to go online at all, though. Not surprisingly, those numbers go up when broken down by those who do at least use the internet occasionally on their phone -- 31 percent of whom go online primarily on their phone -- and there's an even bigger jump when looking at younger users. Among those 18 to 29 who use the internet on their phones, fully 45 percent use their cellphone for most of their online activities. You can find the full report at the source link below.

Pew survey finds that 17 percent of US cellphone users go online mostly on their phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Atom Crash Produces Hottest Man-Made Temperature Ever [Science]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5921401/atom-crash-produces-hottest-man+made-temperature-ever

An atom-smasher called the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has just snagged a Guinness World Record for reaching the hottest man-made temperature ever—250,000 times hotter than the center of the sun.

The face-melting temperature was achieved when gold nuclei—the part of the atom made of protons and neutrons that has a positive charge—were set zipping around an underground racetrack near light speed until they slammed into one another. NASCAR for particle scientists, except instead of a champagne shower you're left with a soupy mix of quarks and gluons.

This stew of subatomic particles formed a primordial plasma that scientists liken to the material that filled the universe just seconds after the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. And it hit about 7.2 trillion degrees Fahrenheit. If you think last week was scorching, you wouldn't want to be inside the RHIC. Because you would die. And it might not be very long until we see even more boiling temps—the Large Hadron Collider at Switzerland's CERN laboratory is expected to trump the record very soon. [LiveScience]

Image credit: Panos Karanpanagiotis/Shutterstock

The Police Are Using Minority Report Technology to Fight Bad Guys [Crime]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5921481/the-police-are-using-minority-report-technology-to-fight-bad-guys

The Police Are Using Minority Report Technology to Fight Bad Guys It's not all the way sophisticated like the precogs of Minority Report but the San Francisco Police Department have left their no Internet having, no email using days behind them and upgraded to a much more sophisticated system that'll help 'em nab more criminals.

Buzzfeed FWD took a look at the police app that SFPD will be using which allows the officers to upload images, scan license plates, dictate notes, capture interviews, pin location points and do all of it in real time. The database is constantly updated so that police officers can work together in predicting where the criminals will end up next. It's fighting crime with data. Or as the SFPD put it, using the "bat computer".

Hell, once the SFPD starts using the police car of the future and integrates facial recognition software to their current app, bad guys should really start thinking about being good. It's hard to beat sci fi tech. Check out the whole report at BuzzFeed FWD. [Buzzfeed]

HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/htc-connect-certifies-av-gear-for-your-one-series-phone/

HTC is going on something of a certification tangent: it's following its PlayStation Suite approval with its own program, HTC Connect. Home AV equipment with the label promises to lift the standards for streaming media to or from one of HTC's devices. The rubber stamp will be limited at first to DLNA audio and video, but it should eventually include just about anything that doesn't involve a wire, such as Bluetooth, in-car media, NFC and wireless speakers. There isn't an immediate deluge of partners. HTC has scored a rather big ally, however: Pioneer's DLNA-ready receivers and wireless speakers this year, and beyond, will flaunt the HTC Connect badge. Don't brag about the media credentials of your One X just yet. Although the Connect seal of approval won't be needed for media streaming anytime soon, it will only be coming to the One series through an upgrade in the months ahead.

Continue reading HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up

HTC Connect certifies AV gear for your One series phone, Pioneer lines up originally appeared on Engadge! t on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia 808 PureView review: the future of mobile imaging, wrapped in the smartphone past

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/nokia-808-pureview-review/

More Info

The Nokia 808 PureView has a 41-megapixel camera sensor. But you knew that. The crystallization of five years of imaging R&D has landed, and the timing couldn't have been better for Nokia. Alongside uncomfortable financial reading, its move to Windows Phone hasn't exactly set the smartphone world alight just yet. It's seemingly established itself as the go-to WinPho choice for American customers thanks to some aggressive pricing, but with news that the next iteration of Windows Phone won't come to the Lumia 900, many will hold out for Nokia's next handset. Whatever that device will be, it's likely to bring the same PureView technology we've got here on the Nokia 808 PureView -- a Symbian-based handset whose software has seen better days. However, OS be damned, it still blew away attendees at this year's Mobile World Congress. Impressive stuff, given that it's the same show where HTC's admirable One series debuted.

That huge sensor is paired with a new five-element Carl Zeiss lens and a refreshed flash with double the strength of the one on the Nokia N8 -- the existing cameraphone champ. But behind the technical bullet points, it's how Nokia maximizes the 41-megapixel sensor, oversampling with those pixels to create improved 5-, 8- , 3- and 2-megapixel images, reducing noise and improving low-light performance. However, when it comes to software, Symbian Belle (with Feature Pack 1 in tow) lags behind the likes of Android, iOS and Windows Phone in user experience and app provision. Similarly, the chunky handset flies in the opposite direction of the trend for slim smartphones. Is that camera module really all Nokia thinks (and hopes) it is? What's more, is Symbian relevant enough for such future-facing goodness? Let's find out.

Gallery: Nokia 808 PureView review

Continue reading Nokia 808 PureView review: the future of mobile imaging, wrapped in the smartphone past

Nokia 808 PureView review: the future of mobile imaging, wrapped in the smartphone past originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung's 27-inch Series 9 LED monitor hits US retailers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/samsungs-27-inch-series-9-led-monitor-hits-us-retailers/

Samsung wasn't saying much about US availability when it showed off its new Series 9 monitor back at CES in January, but it's now finally confirmed that it will be available at a number of different retailers starting June 29th (following a brief "prelaunch" period with Newegg). Coming in at the expected $1,199.99, this one is a 16:9 LED PLS monitor, and it packs a suitably high-end 2560 x 1440 resolution along with most of the other features you'd expect from a $1,200 monitor: HDMI, DVI and a pair of USB ports, an all glass and metal enclosure, and support for MHL-enabled smartphones and tablets. Those curious can find a full rundown of the rest of the specs at the source link below.

Continue reading Samsung's 27-inch Series 9 LED monitor hits US retailers

Samsung's 27-inch Series 9 LED monitor hits US retailers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Computer Scientists Crack RSA's Ironclad Secure ID 800 Tokens [Security]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5921325/computer-scientists-crack-rsas-ironclad-secure-id-800-tokens

If you're used to seeing a device like this on a daily basis, you probably assume that it's a vital security measure to keep your employer's networks and data secure. A team of computer scientists beg to differ, however— because they've cracked the encryption it uses wide open.

Ars Techinca reports how a team of European computer scientists leveled their sights at RSA's SecurID 800 encryption system, which is often regarded by large organizations to be an incredibly secure way to store the credentials needed to access confidential data. They managed to develop an approach that requires just 13 minutes to crack the device's encryption. Ars Technica describes how it works:

If devices such as the SecurID 800 are a Fort Knox, the cryptographic wrapper is like an armored car used to protect the digital asset while it's in transit. The attack works by repeatedly exploiting a tiny weakness in the wrapper until its contents are converted into plaintext. One version of the attack uses an improved variation of a technique introduced in 1998 that works against keys using the RSA cryptographic algorithm. By subtly modifying the ciphertext thousands of times and putting each one through the import process, an attacker can gradually reveal the underlying plaintext, D. Bleichenbacher, the original scientist behind the exploit, discovered. Because the technique relies on "padding" inside the cryptographic envelope to produce clues about its contents, cryptographers call it a "padding oracle attack." Such attacks rely on so-called side-channels to see if ciphertext corresponds to a correctly padded plaintext in a targeted system.

The same attack actually also works on plenty of other devices, including electronic ID cards carried by all Estonian citizens and a number of other security tokens provided by other companies, including the Aladdin eTokenPro and iKey 2032 made by SafeNet, the CyberFlex manufactured by Gemalto, and Siemens' CardOS.

The nature of the attack does require the hacker to have physical access to the token, but if access to a system is required, that doesn't seem like a deal breaker. According to the researchers RSA is aware of the compromise and is in the process of planning a fix. In the meantime, keep your eyes on you key fob. [Project-Team Prosecco via Ars Technica]

Image by EMC

Vizio's Google TV box emerges as the Co-Star Stream Player, goes up for pre-order in July with OnLive gaming

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/vizio-google-tv-box-emerges-as-the-co-star-stream-player/

Remember the Vizio VAP430 Stream Player that we tried during CES? Half a year later, the Google TV hub is getting full launch details, just in time for Google I/O. Along with receiving the much more elegant title of Co-Star Stream Player, the set-top box now bakes in OnLive streaming game support -- the Co-Star could, in theory, replace a game console for any American with a good broadband connection. Whether or not playing Just Cause 2 on a TV is in the cards, the hub ticks all the 2012 Google TV checkboxes, including a hybrid keyboard and remote, 3D-capable 1080p video and DLNA media sharing. Before you rush to the local big-box store to pick one up, be warned that pre-orders don't start until July, and then only on Vizio's website. The $100 price, however, will make it considerably easier to wait.

Continue reading Vizio's Google TV box emerges as the Co-Star Stream Player, goes up for pre-order in July with OnLive gaming

Vizio's Google TV box emerges as the Co-Star Stream Player, goes up for pre-order in July with OnLive gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/native-firefox-android-browser-adds-speed-flash-html5-and-a-fr/

After a brief stretch in beta followed by some vague teasing, Firefox's native Android app update is finally set to hit Google Play. While there are a raft of bells and whistles -- a new welcome page, curvy Australis tabs, Flash and HTML5 support, for starters -- it's the browser's newfound speed that is getting the MVP treatment. That rapidity is as good a place as any to start a quick hands-on, especially since the native browser lag on our older Galaxy S handset often makes us want to hurl it through a pane of glass. Mozilla claims it built Firefox to a new benchmark it developed called Eideticker, resulting in an overall browser experience twice as fast as the stock Android one. As advertised, initial loading is quasi-instant, and navigation, zooming and tab switching seemed smooth as well, even on the two-gen-old phone.

Feature-wise, preferences and other desktop settings imported easily with Firefox Sync's shared password system, and the unfortunately named "Awesome Page" is the new home screen shown above, from which it's fairly simple to launch your preferred sites. Flash and HTML5 generally displayed correctly despite a few minor rendering bugs, and the curved tabs and other design touches make it one of the more elegant Android browsers we've played with. Unfortunately, many sites display in full because they don't yet detect Firefox as a mobile app, but the installation of the Phony 3.2! add-in lets it impersonate other smartphone browsers, and it seemed to work well. We also didn't like that tabbed browsing now requires two taps to get to another page, unlike the previous version, but we imagine that was needed for the increased speed. Overall, Firefox is a welcome addition to the Android ecosystem -- we bet you're just as eager to start browsing as we are, so stay tuned for the app to hit Google Play later today, or jump past the break for a quick speed demo from the kind folks at Mozilla.

Update: The new version is now available at the source link below.

Gallery: Firefox for Android native browser hands-on

Continue reading Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on)

Native Firefox Android browser adds speed, Flash, HTML5 and a fresh look (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qualcomm to deliver Snapdragon SDK to Android developers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/qualcomm-to-deliver-snapdragon-sdk-to-android-developers/

At this year's Uplinq conference, Qualcomm hit Android developers with some exciting news. In the coming months, the chip maker will deliver a Snapdragon software development kit (SDK) that will provide devs with access to the "next-generation technology and features" embedded in its processors. Through APIs, the kit will allow application architects to leverage facial processing, burst camera capture, surround sound recording, echo cancellation, sensor gestures, low power geofencing and indoor location capabilities. Initially, the SDK will only be available for the S4 8960 wafer, but Qualcomm hopes to include more models over time. Head past the break to have a gander at the full press release.

Continue reading Qualcomm to deliver Snapdragon SDK to Android developers

Qualcomm to deliver Snapdragon SDK to Android developers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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