Thursday, May 23, 2013

HP refreshes its laptops for back-to-school season, prices start at $399

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/23/hp-refreshes-laptops-for-back-to-school/

HP refreshes its laptops for back-to-school season, prices start at $399

With back-to-school season upon us and Intel's Haswell launch just around the corner, now's a great time for PC makers to start unveiling their summer lineups. Two weeks ago we heard from Sony and today it's HP's turn: the company just refreshed everything from its mainstream notebooks to its high-performance machines. Heck, even the pint-sized dm1 got a makeover. With the exception of that machine (now called the Pavilion TouchSmart Notebook), everything here will be offered with Haswell. There's a little something for everybody, and it's all waiting for you in a neat summary after the break. Join us as we break it down.

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Innodisk outs embedded SATA nanoSSD, nets 480MB per second from one chip

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/innodisk-unveils-embedded-sata-nanossd/

Innodisk unveils tiny yet speedy embedded SATA nanoSSD

While single-chip SSDs are clearly known quantities, they usually run at a much more leisurely pace than their larger counterparts. Innodisk doesn't think size and speed have to be contradictory -- it just unveiled an embedded version of its nanoSSD that performs almost as well as its much bigger counterparts. The µSSD-based SATA chip has a tiny footprint (0.63 x 0.79 inches) and draws just 1W of peak power, but can still read at up to 480MB/s and write at 175MB/s. As such, it's one of the few SSDs that can theoretically stuff desktop-class storage into a smartphone or tablet. Whether or not it will is another matter. Innodisk hasn't named customers for the nanoSSD so far, which leaves us guessing just where or when we'll see the drive in a finished product.

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Source: Innodisk

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LG's 5-inch HD Oxide mobile display has a 1mm-slim bezel, we go eyes-on at SID

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/lg-hd-oxide-display-eyes-on/

LG's 5inch HD Oxide mobile display has a 1mmslim bezel, we go eyeson at SID

LG's flexible OLED display is just one of the company's many panels on show here at SID. Our next stop in the booth tour is a 5-inch HD prototype, which uses TFT Oxide technology for low power consumption and a super-slim profile. Like the 5-inch flexible panel, this guy sports a 1mm bezel, and a rep told us it utilizes IPS technology to offer wide viewing angles. The model you see here is rated at 250 nits, though LG expects a significantly higher brightness count by the time the panel makes it to market. As for when that will happen, "ASAP" is the only answer we received. Hit up our photo gallery below for a closer look.

Zach Honig contributed to this report.

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Hands-on with Kwikset and UniKey's Kevo keyless entry system

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/kwikset-and-unikeys-kevo-keyless-entry-system-hands-on/

Hands-on with Kwikset and UniKey's Kevo keyless entry system

Kwikset and UniKey are set to update their home entry systems, which have remained largely unchanged since they were first invented more than a hundred years ago. Using a Bluetooth daughter card in the lock mechanism, a couple Bluetooth antennas and a clever app this lock opens by simply touching a finger to the outside of the housing when you approach the door.

At its simplest, the companies' Këvo system isn't too unlike a keyless car entry system, though it takes advantage of your iPhone's Bluetooth LE -- Android and BB10 versions will arrive as soon as those platform's stacks are sorted -- or the included keyfob for the proximity technology. Security is handled through the phone or desktop app enabling you to share keys with your family as administrative users, normal users, one-off entry or even scheduled access. For those concerned about leaving your phone too near the door and thereby allowing anybody access, the system actually uses two antennas, one on the inside and one out. So should you stand behind the closed door the system won't trigger access to those outside. Battery life for the four AAs is rated for a year, and you've no need to worry about being surprised by an outage, either: the system will notify you well in advance using the lock's eight RGB LEDs or through the app. Pricing will be somewhere in the $199 range when it hits the shops, though sadly we don't have an exact date to share. We're pretty stoked to get a chance to check this system out for ourselves but until that time, check out the quick video of it in action below.

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NVIDIA enables full virtualization for graphics: up to eight remote users per GRID GPU

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/nvidia-grid-vgpu-virtualization/

NVIDIA enables full virtualization for graphics up to four remote users per GRID GPU

You probably won't have noticed the following problem, unless you happen to be the IT manager in an architecture firm or other specialist environment, but it's been an issue nonetheless. For all our ability to virtualize compute and graphical workloads, it hasn't so far been possible to share a single GPU core across multiple users. For example, if you'd wanted 32 people on virtual machines to access 3D plumbing and electrical drawings via AutoCAD, you'd have needed to dedicate eight expensive quad-core K1 graphics cards in your GRID server stack. Now, though, NVIDIA has managed to make virtualization work right the way through to each GPU core for users of Citrix XenDesktop 7, such that you'd only need one K1 to serve that workforce, assuming their tasks were sufficiently lightweight. Does this mean NVIDIA's K1 sales will suddenly drop by seven eighths? We couldn't tell ya -- but probably not.

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Here's What It Looks Like Inside The Space Station Control Room

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mission-control-iss-2013-5

Joanne Manaster, a biologist at the University of Illinois-Urbana, tweeted this image of the mission control room that runs the International Space Station.

In the picture, you can see a video link into the station, the video feed from an outer camera on the station, and the station's route, which you can also find online. Look at all those screens — four each!

You can see the Flight Director, who monitors the technical aspects of the space station's flight in real time; the CAPCOM, who is the capsule communicator that talks directly to the astronauts on the space station; and the MOD, the mission operations dictorate, who plans, directs, manages, and implements overall mission operations.

ISS mission control NASA

Manaster is visiting the Johnson Space Center as a part of a NASA Social event — which anyone can attend. She even got to wander around a mock up of the ISS:

mock up of international space station

SEE ALSO: 23 Unforgettable Moments From Astronaut Chris Hadfield

Please follow Science on Twitter and Facebook.

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Samsung buys 10 percent stake in rival phone maker Pantech

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/samsung-buys-stake-in-pantech/

Image

Hang around these pages long enough and you're bound to come across Pantech, the South Korean purveyor of everything from giant 1080p handsets down to... giant 720p handsets. Samsung has noticed this rising star too and, so says Yonhap News, has now made a $50 million investment in the smaller company in return for a 10 percent stake. Implicit in that is that the Korean government has allowed Samsung's ever-expanding influence to infiltrate a potential rival, since Pantech is now the No. 3 phone maker in that country and only Qualcomm and a state-run bank possess larger stakes than Samsung's. As a result, the acquisition could have an anti-competitive aura to it -- but then, Pantech has actually been struggling of late, not least with large debts, and it has relied on big backers to bail it out.

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Via: The Next Web

Source: Yonhap News

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Malaysia's Yes 4G adds WiMAX to Samsung Chromebook, aims to transform local education

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/malaysia-yes-4g-chromebook-wimax/

Malaysia's Yes 4G launches Samsung Chromebook with WiMAX, aims to transform local education

Samsung's Exynos 5-based Chromebook may have been available since last October, but how about one equipped with WiMAX radio? Graced with the presence of Google and Samsung reps in Kuala Lumpur (including a video message from Google SVP Sundar Pichai), today Malaysian carrier Yes 4G unveiled this rather special laptop for the local consumers. In fact, we should have seen this coming as Google's official blog did hint this last month, but we failed to catch that blurred "Yes 4G" logo on the laptop in the blog's photo.

As Google mentioned, the ultimate goal here is to help transform Malaysia's education using the Chromebook. And now we know that this ambition will be backed by Yes 4G's rapidly growing WiMAX network -- from the initial 1,200 base stations in 2010 to today's 4,000, covering 85 percent of the peninsula; and the carrier will expand into the eastern side with 700 more sites by the end of this year. This is especially important for the rural areas, where many schools still lack access to water and electricity. As a partner of the Malaysian Ministry of Education's 1BestariNet project, Yes 4G's parent company YTL Communications has so far ensured that 7,000 local state schools are covered by its WiMAX network, with the remaining 3,000 to be connected over the next six months.

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Source: Yes

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MSI ships AMD Richland A10-based GX70 and GX60 gaming laptops

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/22/msi-ships-amd-richland-a10-gx70-gx60-laptops/

MSI ships AMD Richland A10based GX70 and GX60 gaming laptops

Just as we knew it would, MSI has formally announced pricing for its newfangled GX70 and GX60 gaming laptops -- the world's first machines to ship with AMD's Richland A10-5750M (2.5GHz - 3.5GHz) within. The 17.3-inch GX70 offers up a 1,920 x 1,080 native display resolution, AMD's Radeon HD 8970M on the graphics front, a 750GB hard drive, 8GB of DDR3 memory, a Blu-ray Disc drive, Bluetooth 4.0 and Killer's E2200 networking technology. You'll also get a SDXC card slot, HDMI 1.4 socket, 720p webcam, a 9-cell battery -- likely good for about 89 seconds of use -- a backlit keyboard and a frame that's 2.17-inches thick and 8.6 pounds. If none of that frightens you, you can plan on parting ways with $1,399.99 to call one your own. The (slightly) more petite GX60 boasts a 15.6-inch panel (still 1080p, though), a 7.7 pound frame and a $1,299.99 price tag. Otherwise, the specifications are essentially identical from its big brother, and both should be shipping any moment now.

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Source: MSI

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Hands-on with the Coolpad Quattro II 4G and 8920

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/coolpad-quattro-ii-4g-8920/

Handson with the Coolpad Quattro II 4G and 8920

CTIA 2013 seems to be dedicated to some of the lesser-known names in the US wireless industry, so it's fit that Chinese manufacturer Coolpad should take advantage of the situation to steal the show. Indeed, we were able to take a look at the phone maker's upcoming stateside model, the lower-end Quattro II 4G. In the past year, its predecessor cranked out roughly a million units on MetroPCS, and Coolpad is hoping to build upon that success to get a foothold in the US. This sequel, which offers stock Android 4.1.2 with a 4.5-inch qHD TFT display, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8930 chip, 5MP rear camera and VGA front-facing cam, 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage and a 1,800mAh battery, isn't going to satisfy the tastebuds of power users or high-end flagship seekers, but it's a quality option for those who aren't planning to spend a ton of money on a decent handset. Given the intended audience, the device is perfectly solid with reasonable performance; we appreciated the company's use of a textured back cover. One nitpick: despite our best efforts to get rid of fingerprints, smudges remained with no hope of removal in sight.

Coolpad wasn't able to give many details on pricing or availability, but reps confirmed that it should arrive on C Spire in late June / early July, with it likely hitting other regional prepaid carriers after. Given the original Quattro's $80 price point on MetroPCS last year, we wouldn't be surprised to see the next-gen version offered for around the same cost. The company's still working to expand its presence on some of the larger networks, but it hopes to make its debut in the postpaid world early next year.

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LG Optimus F3 leaks with 4-inch screen and Jelly Bean, allegedly headed to Sprint

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/21/lg-optimus-f3-leak/

LG Optimus F3 leaks out, is allegedly headed to Sprint

As was the case with another LG device recently, the Optimus F3 is making an appearance before going official. Today we're getting an early look at what appears to be an entry-level member of the Optimus family, courtesy of @eveleaks, and one which will reportedly join Sprint's smartphone lineup pretty soon. Among the alleged specs said are a 4-inch WVGA display, 2,460mAh battery, LTE capabilities and one of the latest versions of Android -- Jelly Bean (4.1.2). Meanwhile, precise availability and pricing deets are still unknown, but, if all goes according to Phone Arena, we'll find all that out here "in the next few weeks."

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Source: Phone Arena

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

The Awesome New Technology That You'll See on the Web This Year

Source: http://lifehacker.com/the-awesome-new-technology-that-youll-see-on-the-web-t-509062071

The web becomes more and more capable each day, finding ways to replace what you do on your desktop. In the very near future you'll talk to your web apps, enjoy complex animation without the drain of Flash, and maybe even plug in your guitar. These features and more already exist, and they're coming to the broad internet this year.

Thanks to the quick iteration of browsers like Chrome and Firefox, what developers can easily accomplish with their sites grows by the day. At Google I/O last week, I had the pleasure of sitting in on Google engineer Eric Bidelman's session The More Awesome Web (you can view the presentation here) and learned about what we can expect from web developers—and what we as web developers can do ourselves—with the latest features of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Even if you're not a developer, what's up next for the web is pretty exciting. Here's a look at some of the coolest features you'll see in web apps this year.

Note: Not all browsers currently support the technologies discussed in this post, so you may need Chromium to try out any linked examples.

Plug Your Guitar into a Web Site

Yes, you will plug your guitar into a web site. Chrome already offers a web audio API that allows developers to access a user's audio input (with permission) by writing very little code. While not terribly exciting in itself, the amazing stuff happens after grabbing that signal.

Audio processing on the web is kind of mind-blowing. Developers can now detect pitch—which could lead to web-based pitch correction/auto-tuning—and add effects to live or recorded audio (e.g. vocoders). You can even plug your guitar into a web site and add effects. The web audio API can also do simple things like record audio notes. What once took an app now takes a tiny amount of code written for the web.

Automatically Translate Your Speech into Another Language

We've been able to talk to the web for a little while now, but with a number of limitations. For the most part, voice search was as good as it gets. With the latest speech recognition abilities in Chrome, developers can make use of this technology to do much more.

For example, what if you could say something in English and see it translated into Spanish, French, Italian, or a variety of other languages on the fly? You can. With access to the speech recognition API, developers can take what you say and use that text for a variety of purposes. Running that text through a translation service is just one of them.

Easily Share Your Screen

Plenty of web apps allow screen sharing, but they require quite a bit of work to make it happen. Some ask you to download software, others try to make it work with plug-ins like Flash or Java. Soon you'll see screen sharing offered directly by your browser using HTML5, bypassing a lot of the heavy lifting required by other technologies. If you're running Chromium, you can try it now. Other browsers will have to wait a little while before simple screen sharing is widely supported.

Enjoy Live-Rendered Animations with Complex Imagery

Although not the most outright exciting feature for the end user, we'll all come to appreciate the complex animation possible in the browser as developers implement new possibilities. By now you might be familiar with the SVG format, which offers a way of drawing scalable vector graphics using XML code. This format not only makes it possible to create images without files that load quickly, but also scale those images to pretty much any resolution without pixelation. In its own right, SVG is amazing. When you add animated masks using clipping paths, you get some pretty cool effects. The code is easy to write and will allow developers to add compelling and interesting motion elements to their sites.

The Future

These are just the highlights. Smaller, less flashy improvements are on the way as well and new technologies will likely surface in the latter half of 2013. The web is growing in awesome, incredible ways this year. As the years progress, we'll be doing even more than we expected in our browsers.

Title image remixed from an original by Ralph Bijker.

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