Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

LG Optimus G Pro review: a phone that lives up to Note-sized expectations

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/lg-optimus-g-pro-review/

The large-phone craze is rocking the world like a hurricane, and LG is no stranger to this trend: within the last year, the Korean manufacturer has launched two big-screened smartphones as Optimus Vus (three if you count the LG Intuition on Verizon) to mediocre fanfare worldwide. Given the growing competition in the category -- most notably from its rival Samsung with the Galaxy Note series -- it was inevitable that a stronger campaign, as well as a leader to drive it, was necessary.

This is where the LG Optimus G Pro comes in, taking advantage of a 5.5-inch, 1080p True HD-IPS + LCD panel while pulling in several design and feature cues from its smaller (yet elder) siblings, the Optimus G and Nexus 4. As if the display wasn't enough, LG tops it off with one of the world's first Snapdragon 600 quad-core processors, 2GB RAM and a 13MP rear camera with all the trimmings. It may not be LG's current flagship, per se, but the laundry list of features indicates to us that it's sure acting the part, at the very least. Should its reputation be as large as its screen, or is the Optimus G Pro using that extra size to compensate for something? Follow along as we explore the inner and outer beauty of LG's large-on-life smartphone.

Gallery: LG Optimus G Pro review

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, LG

Would You Pay For Ad-Free YouTube?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5988632/would-you-pay-for-ad+free-youtube

Reports from both Fortune and The Guardian indicate that Google is planning to start a subscription music service like Spotify soon. But the craziest little nugget buried in the reports: YouTube might be getting an ad-free option. Imagine no more Vevo ads. Hello, holy grail.

Fortune seems convinced that YouTube—and not the Google Music storage locker—will be the home of the purported forthcoming music service. A subscription to the streaming music would come with the added benefit of ad-free YouTube. We don't know exactly what shape a future service would take, but YouTube, which is owned by Google, did confirm that it's looking into subscriptions as a source of revenue.

But given how annoying YouTube ads are, here's the question: would you pay not to watch them like you pay for ad-free Pandora? How much? [Fortune and The Guardian]

DigitalOptics' fast MEMS camera enables Lytro-like post-capture refocus (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/digitaloptics-mems-cam/

Tech shows like CES and MWC are great for taking a peek at what's coming up in the world of consumer electronics, even down to the component level. At the latter show this year, we came across DigitalOptics whose name may not sound familiar, but you may already be using its HDR, red eye removal, face tracking, face beautification and other related technologies on many phones (like Oppo's) and cameras (sorry, not allowed to name them here). Now, this year the company will also be offering its MEMS (microelectromechanical system) lens actuator which, compared to its traditional voice coil counterpart, is apparently more reliable, longer lasting, more efficient and faster with a 10ms settling time instead of the usual 20 to 25ms.

Filed under: Misc

Fortune: YouTube music streaming service launching this year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/youtube-music/

We've been hearing rumblings about Google's plans for a Spotify-killer for what seems like forever now. More recently, there's been word that the company's YouTube brand is also getting set set to enter the space, albeit with some overlap from a Google-branded effort. Fortune spoke to some anonymous-type folks in the record industry who confirmed the latter, adding that the service is set to launch this year. The offering will apparently give users some free streaming, with additional features being made available for a subscription fee. The site reached out to YouTube, who offered the following bit of hopeful non-commitment:

While we don't comment on rumor or speculation, there are some content creators that think they would benefit from a subscription revenue stream in addition to ads, so we're looking at that.

So, you know, stay tuned.

Filed under: Software, Google

Source: Fortune

Evernote plans two-factor authentication following last week's hack

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/evernote-two-factor-authentication/

In a move that's often more reactive than proactive these days, Evernote has shared plans to add two-factor authentication to its login process. This latest announcement follows last week's hacking attack and subsequent site-wide password reset, and will be available to all of the site's 50 million users beginning later this year, according to an InformationWeek report. It's too early to say exactly how the Evernote team plans to implement the new security feature, whether through a dedicated app or text message password, but given the service's scale, we can likely count out a hardware fob option, at least. For now, your best course of action is to create a secure password, or, if you're especially paranoid, you may consider delaying your return until the security boost is in place.

Filed under: Software

Source: InformationWeek

Microsoft ViralSearch project visualizes content as it spreads across Twitter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/05/microsoft-viralsearch-project-visualizes-content-as-it-spreads-a/

It's not a new component of Bing (not yet, anyway), but Microsoft has taken the wraps off a new small-scale search project at its TechFest event this week -- one with a particular focus on so-called viral content. Appropriately dubbed ViralSearch, the effort from Microsoft Research currently uses Twitter as a source for all its data, and offers a variety of ways to track and visualize how a story, photo or video spreads from one outlet or individual to hundreds or thousands of others. That includes a profile view of sorts, which lets you see how influential a particular person was in spreading an item, and how prolific they are in general. Unfortunately, it is still just a research project so you can't try it out yourself just yet, and there's no word on any plans for it to become a commercial product. In the meantime, you can get a quick overview of how it works in the video after the break.

Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

Via: The Verge

Source: Microsoft Research

Monday, March 04, 2013

Samsung Galaxy S IV design, specs potentially leaked on Twitter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/04/samsung-galaxy-s-iv-design-specs-potentially-leaked-on-twitter/

Even as the secret of Samsung's Galaxy S IV has been handed off to some teenager, the @evleaks Twitter account (which has been reliable in the past) just posted a supposed pic of and specs for the phone. Along with what's clearly a rendering or drawing, the specs list a Super AMOLED Full HD screen of unknown size, 16GB/32GB/64GB storage options with 2GB of RAM, a 13MP camera and Android 4.2 OS. A second image shows the same mockup alongside previous Galaxy phones confirming its status as the largest one yet, although that's not surprising given recent trends. Of course, given what we know about the lengths Samsung went to protect the design of the Galaxy S III (multiple designs, hand-delivered prototypes), you'll forgive us for reserving judgement until the real thing is shown off on March 14th.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

Source: evleak! s (Twitt er) (1), (2)

Intel launches Atom CE5300-based storage platform with multiple streams, smart scaling

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/04/intel-launches-atom-ce5300-based-storage-platform/

There's been more than a few Atom-based storage servers. Most of them either have to lean on the same Atom processors you'd usually get with nettops, though, which makes them less than ideal for media tasks than a chip dedicated to the job. Intel has just launched a new platform that might be a better fit for home network storage. New NAS arrays from Asustor, Synology, Thecus and others (none yet pictured here) all revolve around a dual-core Atom CE5300 system-on-chip that's better-optimized for media processing duties: it can stream video across the network to multiple devices at once, and can automatically downscale video to accommodate smaller screens. The small chip contributes to a relatively small price at the same time, with NAS boxes starting around $299. Not everyone can suddenly justify a dedicated media server in the home just because the CE5300 is an option, but those that do may at least get more for their money.

Filed under: Storage, Networking, HD, Intel

Source: Intel

This App Makes Conference Calls Completely Free And Painless

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/unison-conference-calls-2013-3

rurik bradbury unison

Unison is essentially a social network for the workplace, letting people collaborate and get updates on what people are up to regardless of where they are.

And one of its most compelling features will have you getting rid of whatever conference call service you use – "instant live group conversations."

As soon as you log in to Unison, you can share your audio with everyone on your team that's also logged in to the same Unison "room." While you're working, you only need to speak out loud to get the attention of everyone else.

No more long phone numbers and PIN numbers.

Here's what Unison co-founder Rurik Bradbury had to say about it:

Conference calls always have some innate level of confusion – dial-in codes, bad connections from people's cellphones, people simply not joining and having no idea who's on. It saps hours from most businesses' lives because it's so pervasive. Unison's a case of everyone logging onto their computer (even in a browser) and hitting 'talk live.'"

Intrigued?

Check out our tour of Unison here >

Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

A Giant iPhone Will Look Stunning

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5988345/a-giant-iphone-will-look-stunning

If you shut your eyes and listen closely, you'll hear the clop-clop of the inevitable: an iPhone that keeps getting bigger and bigger. And as much as we generally hate phablets, if an iPhone Plus looked like this, we'd melt.

Gizmodo reader Martin Hajek put together these gorgeous renders for Nowhereelese.fr, which imagine the iPhone Plus as a 4.8-inch wonder that eschews a physical home button for a display that clicks at its bottom—a terrific idea on its own, actually. There's barely any bezel, allowing for Biggie Phone that's virtually nothing but screen and lovely iOS. No clutter, not a stylus to be spied, and seamless aluminum in black or grey.

I'll take the latter, because I'm nostalgic for the old rear end of the original iPhone.

The only work that'd remain is figuring out a means of controlling such a big phone, comfortably, with one hand, or retooling the whole device to make better sense with two mitts. As we've agonized over, once you start going beyond four inches, a phone can become hostile to the hand holding it. But if the thing looks like this, we'll have to make concessions. Maybe. But looking great and being great will never be one in the same when it comes to phones. [nowhereelse.fr]

How Your Smartphone Will Get Lytro-Like Superpowers

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5988341/how-your-smartphone-will-get-lytro+like-superpowers

As neat as they are, the Lytro camera's re-focusing tricks aren't going to convince most of us to replace our highly pocketable cameraphones. So a California company called DigitalOptics has found a way to give us the best of both worlds with a new ultra-thin sensor that promises Lytro-like tricks.

Instead of employing clever 'light field technology' like the Lytro, the Mems|Cam simply snaps a series of photos with varying depth of fields in quick succession, and then combines them all into a single image that allows you to change the focal point afterwards. It's not only a less complicated approach, but the images from the new sensor could be as large as 13 megapixels in size, compared to the Lytro's measly one-megapixel.

It sounds like a win-win development that surprisingly gets even better because the Mems|Cam sensor is created with 'micro-electro-mechanical systems' technology that results in ultra-thin electronics with incredibly low energy consumption. To the point where this new sensor uses about one percent of the energy of a traditional cameraphone sensor, and facilitates handset form factors as thin as five millimeters. At the moment there are no official announcements as to what hardware manufacturer will be adopting the Mems|Cam sensor, but it's already ready to ship and should be appearing in phones later this year. [Digital Trends via PetaPixel]

Google to monitor unused white space across the US, take us one step closer to spectrum sharing

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/04/google-to-monitor-unused-white-space-across-the-us-take-us-one/

One of the biggest hold-ups in the global deployment of LTE and long-range WiFi is a lack of available spectrum. Even when a particular frequency is free and usable for mobile broadband, it's often officially reserved for some other purpose. Google's charitable wing, Google.org, has long claimed that as much as 6 MHz of white space kept aside for TV channels in the US is actually untapped, and now it's going to get a chance to prove the point. The FCC has just granted it a 45-day window in which to run a trial public database (linked below) to keep track of exactly which bits of spectrum are free in which parts of the country.

If all goes well, Google should find itself among up to ten other organizations that are allowed to supervise spectrum sharing -- in other words, allowing mobile devices to temporarily exploit available TV spectrum that isn't being used by the primary holder. Google's ultimate aim, we're told, is simply to "improve connectivity" at a global level. As to whether the other nine names on the FCC's list -- like Microsoft and Ericsson-owned Telcordia -- are equally altruistic, we have absolutely no idea.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google

Via: The Next Web

Source: Google.org Official Blog, Google.org's Spectrum Database

Supposed Galaxy S4 Spec List Suggests Eight-Core Processor

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5988263/supposed-galaxy-s4-spec-list-suggests-eight+core-processor

Supposed Galaxy S4 Spec List Suggests Eight-Core Processor Someone who claims to be in possession of a Galaxy S4 prototype decided it would be fun to benchmark it, giving us a look at how the phone might, possibly, perform and what might be inside Samsung's next Android flagship.

The Antutu benchmark test reports that the S4 is powered by Samsung's own Exynos 5410 chipset, with its eight cores running at 1.8GHz clock speed. It's coupled with a PowerVR SGX 544 graphics processor, with 2GB of RAM onboard. The S4 in this allegedly current state also feature a 4.99″ display running at 1920×1080 resolution, with Android 4.2 the phone's launch OS.

The tested machine featured GSM and LTE radio capability, meaning one version of the device ought to launch worldwide. And there's a 13-Megapixel camera in it.

No holes can be picked in those specs. If, of course, these results are genuine—so best keep a grain of salt to hand for now. We're expecting Samsung to give us all a good look at 2013′s inevitably massively successful phone on March 14. [Sam Mobile]

Our newest offspring Gizmodo UK is gobbling up the news in a different timezone, so check them out if you need another Giz fix.

CloudKafÃ© Indexes All of your Content in the Cloud

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5988013/cloudkafe-indexes-all-of-your-content-in-the-cloud

CloudKafÃ© Indexes All of your Content in the Cloud

CloudKafé is a free, attractive webapp that helps you search through all the documents, photos, and videos you have scattered across the web.

Once you create a CloudKafé account, you can connect it to your various cloud services. The site supports major players like Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, YouTube, Google Drive, and more, so most everyone should be covered. Once your accounts are connected, you can search them all with a single search box, and get instant results organized by file type. The concept and execution is similar to previously-mentioned Mac app Found, but as a web app, CloudKafé will work on any platform.

As a relatively new service, CloudKafè isn't perfect. For example, I couldn't get it to pull in my Facebook photos. Still though, it's worth checking out if your digital life is spread across the web.

CloudKafé via AddictiveTips

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Would You Watch a Stream Of Pure Ads To Earn Free Streaming Movies?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5988076/would-you-watch-a-stream-of-pure-ads-to-earn-free-streaming-movies

Free streaming is supported by ads. It's just a feature of the form. You see it in Spotify, Pandora, Hulu, even YouTube. But you usually don't get the chance to separate the two and control your ad-seeing power. HitBliss is looking to change that.

By signing up for the HitBliss service and offering up your soul to be targeted by ad after ad after ad after ad, you can earn credit on the HitBliss store to stream the movies of your choice. Ones that they've got to offer anyway. It's prostitution, in a way, but hey: free, legal streaming movies. Would you sell your eyeballs and brain-time for that? Try to cheat the system? Ignore it all and keep pirating? [Mashable]

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)